Election of the WHO Director-General
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Credits
The Director-General is WHO’s chief technical and administrative officer.
The appointment of the current WHO Director-General took place at the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly in May 2022.
Page updated: 4 November 2022
Process and timelines
The process of electing the next Director General begins when Member States are invited to submit proposals for candidates. The Executive Board reviews the proposals and nominates a candidate for consideration by the World Health Assembly, which then conducts a vote by secret ballot.
The most recent election process for Director-General began in April 2021, with the deadline for proposal submissions set for 23 September 2021. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was nominated by the Executive Board at its 150th session in January 2022, and the proposal was considered by the World Health Assembly in May of that year. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was re-elected and officially began his second term on 16 August 2022.
A Director-General can be re-appointed once.
Relevant documentation related to the election process is available here.
