May 23, 2017: After an intensive 18 month election campaign for the position of WHO Director General, Dr Sania Nishtar was defeated by Tedros Adanhom of Ethiopia in the final election which was held at the World Health Assembly on May 23rd, 2017.
In a dignified final campaign newsletter, Sania Nishtar accepts defeat gracefully. She conveys here deepest gratitude to all those who supported her, wished the new WHO DG all the best and referred to her candidacy and her nomination as an “extraordinary privilege”. Sania Nishtar draws attention to her efforts aimed at having initialized an international movement for change in drawing attention to some of the root causes facing the UN system as outlined in her final Op-Ed in the campaign and reiterated in her final speech at the World Health Assembly. She also recalled her efforts to promote “new deal” for WHO, one where she envisaged institutionalizing transparency and accountability as central tenets to delivering institutional reform, and hoped that these efforts would help catalyze a movement within WHO.
Her candidacy was widely hailed both internationally and in Paksitan as is evidenced by the Endorsementsand Newsletters
Visit WHO webpage about the election
View Documentary about the election campaign
