WHO is Electing a New Leader. Here’s What’s at Stake

The Wire “Are you a political person?” one of the nominees for the position of director general (DG) of the WHO was asked recently. This question and the response to it is near central to understand what it means to lead the UN’s only policy-setting body. The role of the DG of the WHO is as much technical as it is political.

“Politics is about looking at the way in which power influences people and it is about using power to change their situation. We must always be skilled at engaging with all kinds of politicians to ensure that in the process they use their power for the political good,” David Nabarro, one of the nominees, told a motley crowd of international development folks that had gathered in Geneva earlier this month." (Photo: United States Mission Geneva/ World Health Assembly - Panel on H1N1/flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)

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