Recommendation 4

The WHO needs support to withstand political pressure from certain member states. There should be no space for doubt about the independence of the WHO’s leadership, particularly given the organisation’s important work during the pandemic. Working in a highly political environment and facing targeted attempts at influence by Beijing and other governments, the Director-General should be insulated from the need to campaign for re-election. Making key deliberations public would help to remove any scope for undue influence. We recommend that the FCDO should support proposals to give the Director-General and other senior officials a single, non-renewable term, and to publish deliberations on declaring a public health emergency. (Paragraph 15) 22 Global Health, Global Britain