Governance

The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of WHO. It is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board. The main functions of the World Health Assembly are to determine the policies of the Organization, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget.

The Executive Board is composed of 34 technically qualified members elected for three-year terms. The annual Board meeting is held in January/February when the members agree upon the agenda for the World Health Assembly and the resolutions to be considered by the Health Assembly.

WHO’s work remains firmly rooted in the basic principles of the right to health and well-being for all people, as outlined in our 1948 Constitution. The Constitution was adopted by the International Health Conference held in New York 1946 and entered into force on 7 April 1948.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the Director-General of WHO, elected by a vote of Member States at the World Health Assembly on 23 May 2017 and re-elected for a second 5-year term on 24 May 2022. The Director-General is WHO's chief technical and administrative officer and oversees the policy for the Organization's international health work. Dr Tedros first took office on 1 July 2017 and began his second term on 16 August 2022.

The appointment of the current WHO Director-General took place at the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly in May 2022 (WHA75). Member States, through a circular letter sent by the WHO Secretariat, were invited to submit proposals for candidates. The World Health Assembly re-appointed Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as Director-General by secret ballot. The next election for Director-General is expected in 2027.

Global health architecture is an overall system of actors that is shaped by its rules, financing mechanisms, and its processes that guide, coordinate, finance and implement efforts to protect and improve health worldwide. Considering the current weaknesses of the system, a number of initiatives have been launched aiming at better defining the problem, providing research and data analysis, and finding solutions.