Tedros' reelection coincides with WHO financing overhaul

As expected, the 75th World Health Assembly reelected Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for a second term as the World Health Organization’s director-general on Tuesday.

He was the only candidate nominated for the job.

“This recognition is not just for me, by and large. I even believe it's a recognition for the whole WHO family, my colleagues, my team,” he told member states post-election.

In his remarks, Tedros thanked member states for reelecting him to the post, but also for taking up the issue of sustainable financing of WHO.

On Tuesday, the World Health Assembly adopted recommendations by a WHO working group on sustainable financing that aim to gradually increase WHO’s flexible funding.

Addressing the organization’s financial woes has been one of Tedros’ priorities. He floated the idea of more flexible funding to the organization, through an increase in assessed contributions, when he was elected director-general back in 2017.

An increase in flexible funding for the organization would help staff focus on working on their programs, instead of “wasting their time” raising financial resources, he said. In addition, it helps provide stability to the organization, which has been relying on staff with short-term contracts.

“Many of our staff, they have two or six months’ contracts. Do you know that we have staff who cannot even rent a house in Geneva because their contract is not enough to guarantee any contract with a landlord to rent a house?” he said.

“And not only that, since they are unstable, there is uncertainty and they cannot stay because they have to find other places where they could have some sort of certainty and security. And we lose talented people,” he added.

Tedros said an increase in assessed contributions is “a gift” that would bring staff stability, but also allow WHO to channel more resources to countries, which member states have asked of the organization.

The implementation plan should include progress to date on reforms as well as a preliminary timeline and required resources for implementation of additional reforms, including but not limited to budgetary, programmatic, finance, governance, and accountability reforms within the remit of the secretariat.

But the increase comes with expectations from member states for further reforms within WHO, including on governance, transparency, accountability and effectiveness. The allocation of resources across the three levels of the organization, and improved protection against sexual exploitation and abuse as well as sexual harassment were also mentioned by some member states as key areas of reform.

Tedros was elected as WHO director-general in 2017. It was considered a historic moment as he became the first African to lead WHO and was elected in an unprecedented World Health Assembly vote, receiving a wide mandate.

Since taking office, Tedros has become somewhat of a superstar in global health. He’s been invited to high level meetings, including of the G-7, and has been seen alongside heads of states.

Under his leadership, WHO launched several initiatives, including the WHO Academy in Lyon, France, and the creation of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence based in Berlin, and welcomed the creation of the WHO Foundation, an independent grant-making organization whose aim is to increase WHO’s funding base from other nontraditional sources of funding, including from the general public and the private sector.

But in the past five years, Tedros also faced moments of leadership tests, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. He received criticism for his public praise of China, where the disease was first reported, and almost lost the United States backing when former President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would leave WHO. His statements regarding the humanitarian situation in Tigray also received the ire of the Ethiopian government.

It was also during his time in office that several workers employed by WHO during the 10th Ebola outbreak response in the Democratic Republic of Congo were accused of sexual exploitation and abuse. At the publication of an independent investigation into the allegations, Tedros said he takes “ultimate responsibility” and apologized.

A team of U.N. rapporteurs this week called WHO’s response to the allegations “inadequate”.

Amid the criticisms, Tedros ran unopposed for his second term in office. But there are high expectations ahead.

“In your first term, you've done quite a good deal to protect the most vulnerable and empower women. In particular, women leaders here at WHO HQ, and we challenge you in your second term to do even more to protect human rights in a public health context,”  Loyce Pace, assistant secretary for global affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said. “The truth is there is still much more work to do to modernize WHO so that it's more effective and agile, and we know that you are committed to this as well.”