GENEVA • Nearly 20 European Union countries have nominated Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for a second term as head of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The nominations came shortly before the deadline passed on Thursday.
Germany announced on Wednesday that it was proposing Dr Tedros, 56, 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 for the election of the WHO Director-General to be held in May 2022," the permanent missions of France and Germany at the United Nations 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 said.
Each country - among them Austria, France, Portugal and Spain - submitted a sealed envelope to the Geneva-based WHO. The organisation will not open the envelopes before Oct 1. The list of candidates will be sent to the WHO's 194 member states a few weeks later, before being made public.
In 2017, Dr Tedros became the first African to head the powerful UN agency. He 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, Dr Tedros declined to answer when asked to confirm that he was running for a second term. His nomination by European countries comes as a surprise as most observers predicted that official support would come from African nations.
But Dr Tedros drew the ire of the Ethiopian government by using the WHO platform to condemn the crackdown in his home region of Tigray.
If multiple candidates come forward, a selection process will start in January 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.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
