WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION FIFTY-SIXTH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY Provisional agenda item 4 A56/INF.DOC./8 10 April 2003
Director-General 1. Article 31 of the Constitution of WHO provides that the Director-General shall be appointed by the Health Assembly on the nomination of the Board on such terms as the Health Assembly may determine. The Health Assembly will consider this agenda item in accordance with its Rules of Procedure, in particular Rules 108 to 112. The agenda item contains two subitems: Appointment and Approval of contract. The Health Assembly meets in private session for the appointment, and traditionally has remained in private session when considering the terms of the contract.
APPOINTMENT (Agenda item 4.1) 2. At its 111th session the Executive Board adopted resolution EB111.R15 nominating Dr Jong-Wook Lee for the post of Director-General and submitting this nomination to the Fifty-sixth World Health Assembly. The Health Assembly will decide whether to accept that nomination by considering a draft resolution, which in its standard form from previous Health Assemblies would read as follows: The Fifty-sixth World Health Assembly, On the nomination of the Executive Board, APPOINTS Dr Jong-Wook Lee as Director-General of the World Health Organization. 3. Rule 110 requires that the decision whether to accept the nomination must be made by secret ballot. The ballot will provide a “yes” and a “no” option. The nomination will be accepted if a majority of those Member States present and voting vote “yes”, i.e., in favour of the proposed resolution.
APPROVAL OF CONTRACT (Agenda item 4.2) 4. The Health Assembly will consider the contract to be offered to the appointee.1 The contract was recommended by the Executive Board, and its content is the same as that of contracts submitted to the Health Assembly for previous Directors-General. The Health Assembly will be asked to approve the contract by adopting the resolution to this effect recommended by the Executive Board in resolution EB111.R16.
1
Document A56/4.
A56/INF.DOC./8
5. After consideration of agenda items 4.1 and 4.2 in private session, the Health Assembly will reconvene in public in order for the results of its session to be announced for the public record. The Director-General appointee will then be asked to take the oath of office, as provided for in Staff Regulations 1.10 and 1.11,1 and to sign the approved contract along with the President of the Health Assembly acting in the name of the Organization. 6. Agenda item 4 will be concluded in public session by consideration of resolution EB111.R17 in which the Executive Board recommends to the Health Assembly the adoption of a resolution expressing appreciation to the incumbent Director-General.
=
=
=
The oath of office contained in Staff Regulation 1.10 reads as follows: I solemnly swear (undertake, affirm, promise) to exercise in all loyalty, discretion, and conscience the functions entrusted to me as an international civil servant of the World Health Organization, to discharge those functions and regulate my conduct with the interests of the World Health Organization only in view, and not to seek or accept instructions in regard to the performance of my duties from any government or other authority external to the Organization. Staff Regulation 1.11 requires that the oath be made orally by the Director-General at a public meeting of the Health Assembly.
1
2