In 2008, I saw then New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark’s face all over the news. That same year, New Zealand became the first developed country to sign a free trade agreement with China, and my parents celebrated what they saw as a symbol of our two cultures coming together.

2008 was also the last year of Helen Clark’s tenure as Prime Minister of New Zealand, having led the country for nine years over three terms. The New Zealand Labour Government, under Clark, is remembered for social and economic achievements such as the creation of a sovereign wealth fund to finance superannuation pensions, a national savings scheme and a state-owned bank owned by New Zealand Post to restore services to communities without them. Clark’s individual legacy, however, is characterized by her refusal to intervene in Iraq without a UN mandate, the removal of knighthoods from the New Zealand Royal Honours system and her 2007 pledge for New Zealand to reduce its net emissions of greenhouse gases to zero. The vision she had of a more peaceful, egalitarian and green New Zealand is one which continues to resonate with me.

Over ten years later and 14,000 kilometers from home, I had the pleasure of meeting Clark, and finally putting into words the questions that had accumulated in my mind for over a decade. Clark addressed a group of 150 members of the NYU Abu Dhabi community and students from Emirates Diplomatic Academy on Nov. 6 in a panel moderated by Vice Provost Bryan Waterman and myself.

The conversation opened with the start of Clark’s political involvement. As a student, Clark became involved in campaigning against New Zealand’s involvement in the Vietnam War. In those days, controversy raged over whether the national rugby team should continue to play against apartheid-selected teams from South Africa, and Clark found herself navigating political differences with her family on the issue. Clark studied politics at the University of Auckland, going on to become a lecturer on the subject before being elected to parliament at the age of 31, one of only eight women at the time.

Following her time as Prime Minister, Helen Clark led the United Nations Development Program from 2009 to 2017, during which time she was involved with the process that led to the promulgation of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. These goals are comprehensive across the economic, social and environmental strands of sustainability. Vice Provost Waterman questioned what universities could contribute to the pursuit of the SDGs, especially in an era when international support is uneven at a governmental level. One major way that universities play a part, in Clark’s view, is in promoting interdisciplinary teaching and research, as she believes that the SDGs require holistic thinking about development.

In 2016, Clark was a candidate for the position of United Nations Secretary General, for which there was support for the position to be held by either a woman or an Eastern European for the first time. Former prime minister of Portugal, António Guterres, ultimately was elected for the position by the United Nations Security Council despite being the only candidate who was neither a woman nor from Eastern Europe. Clark has previously spoken about the proverbial glass ceiling which the female candidates are often impeded by in the selection process. When asked what women could do to avoid becoming disillusioned by gender inequality, Clark emphasised the value of determination and acting according to the belief in equal abilities between men and women.

Kaushal Prakash, Class of 2021 from Fiji, asked what advice Clark had for developing countries such as Fiji which are trying to meet the SDGs while facing a lack of resources and vulnerability to natural climate disasters. Clark acknowledged the difficulty many developing countries face in trying to meet the SDGs, highlighting the fact that middle-income countries – such as Fiji – received less generous financing terms when it came to taking loans from development banks due to their income status. This is disadvantageous to countries vulnerable to disaster, Clark believes, as disasters, such as cyclones can devastate the economies of such states and make it hard to take on and service the debt incurred for recovery.

Hannah Melville-Rea, Class of 2019 from New Zealand, suggested that climate events have not really acted as a wake-up call for enough action, and she questioned the long-term decisions and investments that need to be made within political systems that operate on shorter cycles. Clark accepted that long-term state policies are only possible when a bipartisan or multi-partisan consensus is reached on issues. She also acknowledged the difficulty of achieving this consensus on climate amid short election cycles and varied adversaries. Clark earlier called for countries to adopt elements of the SDGs into their domestic governance structure in order to increase accountability. In this context, it is interesting that the New Zealand Parliament passed the Zero Carbon Act on Nov. 7, one day after our conversation, setting a 2050 deadline to achieve the goal Clark had pledged 12 years ago by 2020.

After working within political institutions for most of her career, the Helen Clark Foundation – a non-partisan public policy think tank recently set up by Clark – is a next step in Clark’s legacy and an opportunity for her to focus more independently on issues that interest her. The think tank is dedicated toward “a more inclusive, sustainable and peaceful society”.

Affectionately referred to as ‘Aunty Helen’ by many New Zealanders, Clark remains very busy with commitments around the world. Following her visit to the UAE, she attended the International Conference on Population and Development in Nairobi, Kenya, before returning to Abu Dhabi and Dubai to take part in further forums.