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.’’