World Health Organization : The mandate of a specialized agency of the United Nations
Appendix 1
Dr Jong Wook Lee's term
Dr Jong Wook Lee was nominated by the Executive Board for the post of
Director-General on 28 January 2003, and he was elected to the post by the
World Health Assembly on 21 May 2003. Dr Lee took office and started his
five-year term as Director-General of the WHO on 21 July 2003.
In three different speeches, in his presentation to the Executive Board,
in his speech to the 56th World Heath Assembly and in his address to WHO
staff , Dr Lee has already clearly pointed out what WHO's priorities and
objectives will be for the next five years.
Total commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The MDGs agreed by the UN at the Millennium Summit in 2000 are built on the WHO Constitution objective of "Health for All", and they are "strategic focal points within a broad health agenda that build on the Alma Ata legacy" . Therefore, Dr Lee's commitment to achieve the MDGs is very strong. In particular, a central action should be taken against HIV/AIDS, focusing on the target of providing three million people in developing countries with antiretroviral drugs by the end of 2005 ("Three by five" goal). In order to achieve this goal, the HIV/AIDS Department will produce a global plan linking prevention, care and treatment, in cooperation with several partners, such as UNAIDS and the Global Fund.
Decentralising WHO and its goals. WHO will have to put countries at the centre of its work and, therefore, improve its decentralisation. "Our work everywhere is important, but the real centre of it has to be countries", says Dr Lee to the WHO Regional Committee for EURO, "we have to give our country offices more people, more realistic budgets and more authorities" . It is, therefore, necessary to work with countries, in order "to mobilise investment to increase their capacity for basic training of health workers; to develop sustainable reward systems for health workers; to improve long-term human resource planning in rich and poor countries to help alleviate the brain drain from the south; to develop a mentoring system in the WHO" . Decentralising WHO's work is a means of serving countries more effectively.
Enhancing WHO's efficiency. Efficiency means that more WHO's resources will be devoted to the Regional and Country Offices. Dr Lee has promised that he will shift the 36% of the 2004-2005 total budget allocated to the headquarters to 25% by 2005 and to 20% by 2008. Efficiency means 'forward deployment' of specific technical programmes to the Regional Offices where they can have the biggest impact. Efficiency means to move to high information technology and operational communication infrastructure that links the three WHO operational levels: headquarters, regions and countries.
Improving WHO's accountability. Accountability is meant both in terms of finances and in terms of contribution to health outcomes. Dr Lee wants to strengthen the audit function at the WHO, as well as to improve global health surveillance, data management and health measurement.
Making WHO an even better place for people to work. Dr Lee's last but not least priority is to strengthen WHO human resources because WHO's accomplishments are met thanks to WHO Staff commitment. Dr Lee thinks that it is necessary "to modify our human resources policies. I want to enable WHO people to perform better, with greater job satisfaction […] The goal is to ensure that people's skills and experience are being used effectively to reach our shared goal of improved results in countries" .
In order to fulfil these goals, Dr Lee has slightly changed the headquarters structure. In particular, the Executive Directors who were head of the Clusters, have all been substituted by Assistant Directors-General. They are as follow:
- Denis Aitken, Assistant Director-General and Director of the Office of the Director-General;
- Liu Peilong, Assistant Director-General - Advisor to the Director-General;
- Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, Assistant Director-General - Communicable Diseases;
- Kazem Behbehani, Assistant Director-General - External Relations and Governing Bodies;
- Jack C. Chow, Assistant Director-General - HIV/AIDS, TB & Malaria;
- Timothy G. Evans, Assistant Director-General - Evidence & Information for Policy;
- Catherine Le Gales-Camus, Assistant Director-General - Non Communicable Diseases and Mental Health;
- Kerstin Leitner, Assistant Director-General - Sustainable Development & Healthy Environments;
- Vladimir Lepakhin, Assistant Director-General - Health Technology and Pharmaceuticals;
- Anders Nordström, Assistant Director-General - General Management;
- Joy Phumaphi, Assistant Director-General - Family & Community Health.
Edited by Aldo Campana,