WHO begins process to elect next Director-General

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that the process to elect its next Director-General was now underway.

A statement by the world health body said that the Director-General is WHO’s chief technical and administrative officer and oversees policy for its international health work.

Dr Margaret Chan, who is the current incumbent director-general was elected in 2006 and will complete her second term on June 30 next year.

According to the statement, the first step in a rigorous process will be for member states to nominate candidates.

This would culminate in a final round of voting at the World Health Assembly in May 2017, with the new Director-General taking office on July 1, 2017.

``The process of electing a new Director-General takes more than one year and it involves some key steps.

``Member States will have until September 22 to submit proposals for nominations to the post of Director-General, at which point the names of the candidates and their proposers will be made public.

``In October, member states and candidates will be given the opportunity to interact in a password-protected web forum hosted on the WHO website.

``In November, over a period of up to three days, a live forum will be held, at which candidates will present their vision to WHO Member States.

``They will also be able to answer questions on their candidacy,’’ the statement read in part.

It added that: ``In January 2017, WHO’s Executive Board will use a new electronic voting system to draw up a short list of up to five candidates.

``Executive Board members will then interview these candidates and nominate up to three of them to go forward to the World Health Assembly in May 2017.

``At the World Health Assembly, member states will vote in a new Director-General, who will take office on July 1, 2017.’’ (NAN)