ETHIOPIA CRITICISM
The main source of opposition meanwhile has come from Tedros’ own country.
Ethiopia’s government has slammed his comments about the humanitarian situation in his home region of Tigray, in the grip of a 14-month conflict.
After Tedros earlier this month described the conditions there as “hell” and accused the government of preventing medicines and other life-saving aid from reaching desperate locals, Addis Ababa demanded he be investigated for “misconduct and violation of his professional and legal responsibility”.
Ethiopia does not, however, appear to have much support in its criticism.
“He has indeed expressed himself forcefully, but what he is saying corresponds to facts observed by the heads of all the humanitarian agencies,” a Western diplomatic source told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
“There was no misconduct.”
Addis Ababa blocked the African Union from unanimously backing Tedros’s nomination, but several African countries, including Kenya and Rwanda, figure among the 28 mainly European nations that officially put his name forward.
“ZERO TOLERANCE” FOR ABUSE
The United States is also now largely supportive of the WHO chief.
That marks a major about-face from the start of the pandemic, when former president Donald Trump’s administration began pulling the United States out of the WHO, accusing it of being Beijing’s puppet and helping cover up the initial outbreak.
Trump’s successor Joe Biden halted the withdrawal, and Washington has voiced stronger support for Tedros as he has taken a sterner tone with China, demanding greater transparency around the origins of the outbreak.
Beijing has rebuked the WHO chief for some of those comments, but still says it supports his candidacy.
Beyond the pandemic, Tedros has faced a barrage of criticism, including from nations supporting his second term bid, over his handling of devastating allegations of rape and sexual assault by humanitarian workers, among them 21 WHO employees tackling Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2018 and 2020.
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