Behind-the-scenes campaigns and diplomatic lobbying for post of WHO South East Asia's regional director

With most of the countries in the South Asian region scheduled to go for elections next year, a closed-door secret election for the top post of Regional Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) held this week in New Delhi, saw some behind-the-scene campaigning and diplomatic lobbying.

Saima Wazed, the daughter of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was elected as the WHO South East Asia's Regional Director, after securing the highest number of votes of eight against fellow candidate Shambhu Prasad Acharya, who was nominated by Nepal.

Acharya is a senior WHO official, and currently serves as the director in the office of Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus.

The election was held through a secret ballot during a meeting in New Delhi, with the participation of ten memberstates including Sri Lanka that were eligible to vote. Earlier, India confirmed its support for the daughter of the Bangladeshi Prime Minister long before the election.

According to a statement issued by the WHO, Wazed was nominated by member-states as the next regional director during a closed meeting at the 76th session of the regional committee for the South-East Asian region which comprises eleven countries–Bangladesh, Bhutan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor Leste. The office headquarters is located in New Delhi.

The current regional director is India’s Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the first woman to hold the post. She is in her second five-year term following unanimous re-election in 2018. The new regional director will take office from February 1 next year and will hold the post till 2028.