GENEVA: The World Health Organization said Friday that its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is running unopposed for a second five-year term.
The U.N. health agency made the announcement after the deadline for candidacies for the next term expired on Sept. 23. The formal selection of the next director-general takes place at the WHO's next assembly in May.
Tedros, an Ethiopian national who is the first African to head WHO, has overseen the agency's complex response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has overshadowed his tenure. Trained in biology and infectious diseases with a doctorate in community health, he is also the first WHO chief who is not a medical doctor.
A former health and foreign minister from Ethiopia, Tedros — who goes by his first name — received a strong endorsement when France and Germany announced their support for him shortly after the nomination period closed.