Belarus, Denmark, France and Slovenia to fill seats on the WHO Executive Board

Following the results of a secret ballot postal voting process, earlier this week the Deputy Executive President of the 70th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, Dr Iva Pejnović Franelić, announced that Belarus, Denmark, France and Slovenia would put forward their candidatures for the WHO Executive Board at the Seventy-fourth World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2021.

The secret ballot postal vote is a novelty in the conduct of WHO European Region governing bodies’ work, adaptive to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The WHO Executive Board is composed of 34 individuals, each designated by a Member State from the six WHO regions, and elected to serve by the World Health Assembly (WHA). The Board meets twice a year and its main function is to advise and give effect to the decisions and policies of the WHA.

Currently the following European countries serve on the Executive Board: Austria, Finland, Germany, Israel, Romania, Russian Federation, Tajikistan and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.