Nearly 20 European Union(EU) countries nominated Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for a second term as head of the World Health Organization (WHO), shortly before the deadline passed on Thursday.
WHO member states had until 1600 GMT (1630 EAST) to nominate candidates. Germany announced on Wednesday that it was proposing Tedros, who appears to be the only candidate in the running.
“Today September 23rd, France and Germany, in coordination with a group of EU states, nominated Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros for the election of the @WHO Director-General to be held in May 2022,” the permanent missions of France and Germany at the UN in Geneva both wrote in a tweet.
Other EU nations followed Berlin’s lead and backed the Ethiopian former health and foreign minister, diplomatic sources told AFP.
Each country, among them Austria, France, Portugal and Spain, submitted a sealed envelope to the Geneva-based WHO.
The organization will not open the envelopes before October 1. Then, a few weeks later, the list of candidates will be sent to the WHO’s 194 member states, before being made public.
In 2017, Tedros became the first African to head the powerful UN agency.
The 56-year-old has been on the front line since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, making him one of the most familiar faces in the fight against the pandemic.
At a news conference on Wednesday, when asked by AFP to confirm he was running for a second term, Tedros declined to answer.
If multiple candidates come forward, a selection process will start in January 2022 to establish a shortlist of up to five potential directors-general.
Member states will vote for the next head of WHO — whose term begins in August next year, in a secret ballot in May during the World Health Assembly, the WHO’s main annual meeting of member states.
