Equal Opportunities to «Health For All», Pascoal MOCUMBI’s Vision for WHO

Managing for Results

WHO Staff

At the core of WHO’s ability to play its role as the source of global Health expertise is the excellence of its professional and support staff. WHO must strive to attract the best and brightest from around the world and create the organizational environment and culture in which they can fully contribute their expertise and very diverse experience to the solution of intricate and complex health problems we face today and in future. WHO staff must be able to work effectively across traditional organizational boundaries both within WHO and with critical external partners in Health. These fine women and men must also have the opportunity to grow within our organization -- grow in knowledge, experience, and have a clear and transparent path to career advancement. One of my highest priorities will be to ensure that WHO’s staff is recognized, supported and respected for their quality and for their commitment to our important work.

Staff recruitment procedures and methods will be analyzed, in order to guarantee high technical and scientific standards, without any need to question the established principle of geographic quotas. Competent individuals are available from all around the world and WHO must, therefore, strengthen its ability to identify staff and expert advisors from well-known and less well-known pools of talent.

It is critical that we ensure an equal representation of women at all levels and among our external advisors.

Very special attention will be given to the appropriate selection and training of WHO Country Representatives.

I will also pay special attention to staff development activities and new staff development opportunities will be created.

The main thrust of my management and leadership will be characterized by the adoption of modern, democratic and results oriented managerial methods, based on evidence. In so doing, I will always seek dialogue with interested parties in the decision making process. I will pay particular attention to listening to the staff and will take in consideration their views and suggestions.

High priority will be given to the improvement of the managerial and organizational mechanisms within WHO. Especially, I will consider ways and means to reduce bureaucracy, transaction costs and potential efficiency losses between Headquarters, Regions and Country level.

Our Regional Structure

WHO can only be effective as a global organization and for our Member States, if the staff in Brazzaville, Cairo, Copenhagen, Geneva, Harare, Manila, New Delhi, Washington DC and in WHO Country Representations see themselves as part of a single Organization whose goal is World Health. This goal can only be achieved if individuals, organizations and governments around the world work effectively with WHO to develop strategies suited to their own regional and country environments. WHO’s structure must reflect this interdependence within our own Organization, and the Regional Directors will be part of my core executive team.

Networks of Expertise

One key to our future success will be our continued ability to promote knowledge networks bringing together the best experts in a given field from around the world to deliberate and contribute to set standards that countries and multilateral organizations can use to guide their work. This is our normative function and it is fundamental to our role. Through knowledge dissemination, WHO will find the best ways of providing tailor-made technical cooperation to achieve sustainable national Health policy goals and to draw on the experience of individual countries to build a wealth of Health knowledge that can benefit people’s health worldwide. Through our standard setting and normative work, and our access to worldwide networks of experts, we can ensure the quality and effectiveness of global actions for Health. With these powerful tools, we can equally inspire further commitment to a renewed WHO to face the challenges of the 21st century and promote equal opportunities to health for all.

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE THIS VISION A REALITY