By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA (Reuters) – Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has been leading the World Health Organization (WHO) amid the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, is on his way to a new five-year term at the head of the agency after he be the only candidate nominated by 28 countries, Western diplomats said on Friday.
Diplomats cited a letter sent by WHO to its 194 member countries informing them of confidential indications contained in sealed envelopes delivered in late September.
Ethiopia refused to nominate Tedros for a second term due to tensions generated by the conflicts in the Ethiopian region of Tigre, which made it necessary for other countries to nominate him.
Among the 28 countries that nominated Tedros for a new term are France, Germany and other members of the European Union, as well as three African countries – Botswana, Kenya and Rwanda – diplomats told Reuters. The United States was not among those countries.
The issue is so sensitive that the African Union has not even discussed the nomination, and that didn’t even happen at the bloc’s last meeting this month, African diplomats said.
WHO will hold the election for the post of director-general at its annual meeting of ministers of health in May next year. The nominations were kept confidential to avoid advance campaigns.
Tedros, former Ethiopian Minister of Health and Foreign Affairs, became the first African to be elected Director-General of WHO in May 2017.
He has led the agency in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, the worst global public health crisis in a century, which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and has killed 5.2 million people.
WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said the agency will release a note on the nominations later this Friday.
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