WHO staffs taking a break after visiting the Visale rural health clinic, Solomon Islands.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. WHO recruits and employs staff from every disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religion, culture, ethnicity and socio-economic background. In May 2022 WHO published its first HR Agenda for diversity, equity and inclusion for the WHO workforce. The Agenda reaffirms WHO leadership commitment to combatting all forms of discrimination affecting the workplace.
The Staff Regulations established by the governing bodies of all organizations of the United Nations common system include several cardinal principles as regards recruitment of staff. The relevant WHO Staff Regulation reads as follows:
- The paramount consideration in the appointment, transfer or promotion of the staff shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity. Due regard shall be paid to the importance of recruiting and maintaining the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.
- Without prejudice to the inflow of fresh talent at the various levels, vacancies shall be filled by promotion of persons already in the service of the Organization in preference to persons from outside. This preference shall also be applied, on a reciprocal basis, to the United Nations and specialized agencies brought into relationship with the United Nations.
“Our commitment to diversity is not ticking a box, it is about improving the quality and impact of what we do, by drawing on the richness of experience we all bring. The diversity of our workforce is not just an incredible asset that we must utilize more fully, it’s essential to achieving our mission. […] we will develop a diversity and inclusion strategy with clear targets to which we will hold ourselves accountable.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General
Geographical representation
The World Health Assembly in its resolution WHA56.35 updated the formula for defining a desirable range for the appointment of staff for each Member State of WHO. Four groupings have been determined to assess the representativeness of Member States:
A: unrepresented and underrepresented countries.
B1: countries within their range but below midpoint.
B2: countries at or above midpoint of range, including those at the maximum of their range.
C: countries above the maximum of their range.
WHO HR diversity indicators include reduction of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States. The system of desirable ranges is the measure for assessing the appropriate representation level of each Member State in the staff of WHO, which takes into count a subset of the international staff population holding longer term appointments and encumber core posts. For equitable geographical distribution at the time of recruitment against geographical posts, every effort must be made to appoint candidates from unrepresented and underrepresented Member States and regions. The goal is to have every unrepresented Member State be represented in WHO and to bring as many underrepresented Member States to within the desirable ranges.
Geographical diversity as of December 2024. Source: WHO HR Business Intelligence Dashboard.
Legend: a* Unrepresented countries; A Underrepresented countries; B1 Countries within their range but below midpoint; B2 Countries at or above midpoint of range; B2* Countries at the maximum of their range; C Countries above the maximum of their range.
Unrepresented and underrepresented Member States
Nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States are strongly encouraged to apply for positions with WHO.
Unrepresented Member States (as of December 2024) | Underrepresented Member States (as of December 2024) |
Andorra Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Brunei Darussalam Cambodia Cook Islands Cuba Cyprus Ecuador El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Faroe Islands Grenada Iceland Jamaica Kiribati Kuwait Libya Marshall Islands Micronesia (Federated States of) Monaco Montenegro Nauru Niue Oman Palau Panama Paraguay Puerto Rico Qatar Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Seychelles Solomon Islands Suriname Tokelau Tuvalu United Arab Emirates Vanuatu | Austria Brazil Chile China Czech Republic Dominican Republic Israel Japan Korea, Republic of Lithuania Mexico Norway Peru Poland Saudi Arabia Singapore United States of America |
Gender parity
Women are strongly encouraged to apply for WHO jobs.
Gender equality is a human right. It has been a tenet of international human rights law since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948, with its recognition that all people are born free with equal dignity and rights, without distinctions of any kind. Over 75 years, the right to gender equality has been recognized through additional international legal instruments. WHO prioritizes the advancement of gender equality because it is a fundamental right and foundational to a just society. Gender parity means equality in the number of women and men employed by the Organization.
Key dimensions to address for promoting equality include:
- women and men have equal representation in the organization, and decision-making power to shape legislative frameworks, policies and programmes;
- women and men have equal access to organizational resources and services, and equal control over the resulting benefits; and
- parents’ workload is reduced by enhancing policies for families.
In 2017, the UN Secretary-General launched the United Nations System-Wide Strategy on Gender Parity, which states that the overall goal for parity across the UN system at all international staff levels should be set for 2026. In December 2022, for the first time, WHO achieved overall parity, i.e., 50.1% women and 49.9% men holding long term contracts (international and national staff). Notwithstanding this important achievement, more progress is required, as each international professional level must be targeted and monitored independently.
The updated WHO Gender parity policy (2023–26) envisages setting gender parity targets for each level of international staff on fixed-term and continuing appointments and for all major offices and HQ departments of WHO. The goal, however, is not only about hitting the numbers. It is about modernizing and strengthening the Organization so that WHO can reach its full potential.
Temporary recruitment measures to achieve gender parity
For job openings that fail to yield a minimum of 30% women applicants and for grades that are not at parity, as a temporary measure hiring managers will be requested to reopen the job posting to facilitate additional outreach to the under-represented gender, women from unrepresented or underrepresented Member States, women with disabilities etc.
The job openings (for underperforming grades) will be re-opened when the shortlist of candidates does not have at least 2 women to ensure further outreach to attract women from underrepresented groups, including job applicants from the Global South.
Employees with disabilities
WHO strives to be an “organization for all” with employees with disabilities in all their diversity represented at all levels of the Organization’s workforce.
Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodation to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent by email to [email protected].
We strive to provide reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities to ensure that they can perform the essential functions of their job. This includes providing assistive technology, applying flexible working arrangements, and making physical modifications to the workplace. Reasonable accommodation requests will be considered from internal and external candidates and members of WHO's workforce with disabilities or who have dependents with disabilities.
The United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy, launched in 2019, provides the foundation for sustainable and transformative progress on disability inclusion through all pillars and areas of work of the United Nations, including human resources management. The Strategy enables the UN system to support the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other international human rights instruments, as well as the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy sets the direction for UN entities to become an employer of choice for persons with disabilities. We are committed to pursuing the goals of inclusion and diversity among our workforce and promoting the removal of barriers to attract, recruit and retain persons with disabilities.
The WHO Embracing Disability Affinity Resource Group members meet every month. The Group provides an informal platform to employees with disabilities, employees with dependents with disabilities, and supervisors in creating a culture that fosters a diverse, inclusive and supportive workplace aligned with WHO values – with disability inclusion at the forefront.
How can we behave in ways that are disability inclusive? While all employees must have awareness of disability inclusion and do their part to build an inclusive environment, it is especially important for managers and supervisors to be inclusive in managing teams. Being inclusive means:
- taking time to build relationships with your team members;
- asking about their lives and work-life balance to alleviate concerns about the disabilities they may have;
- educating team members that some disabilities are not visible;
- protecting the privacy of our colleagues and allowing to share if/when comfortable;
- identifying the best method of communication, organizational style and preferred workspace arrangements;
- encouraging use of flexible working arrangement;
- ensuring reasonable accommodations defined in WHO Reasonable Accommodation SOP (standard operating procedure);
- providing frequent, clear feedback about daily or weekly projects and progress toward overall goals in workplans; and
- scheduling regular feedback discussions so that all staff, regardless of disabilities, can learn how their performance is viewed and to find out what they need to improve.
UN-Globe
UN-Globe is the association representing LGBTIQ+ employees and their dependents in the UN system. UN-Globe advocates for the equality and inclusion of all personnel and for a more inclusive approach to the implementation of the programmatic and operational work of the UN system.
WHO is the first UN entity having 6 UN-Globe Coordinators. The Team Model will ensure the UN-Globe presence across the organization to share the workload and enhance knowledge exchange between regional offices. The UN-Globe Coordinators will play a key role in coordinating activities in all major offices on LGBTIQ+ employee’s issues, helping to drive progress towards inclusive and equitable employment conditions; representation and engagement; and a diverse, safe and enabling work environment.
Racial equity and anti-racism
WHO possesses a diverse workforce. Having multiracial, multicultural and multilingual employees and geographical diversity in senior leadership roles make WHO stronger.
Ensuring equal rights and eliminating discrimination have been part of WHO’s work for decades. We define racial discrimination in line with article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD, entered into force in 1969) as “any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life”.
Racism includes attitudes, practices and beliefs rooted in ideas or theories of superiority, as a complex of factors, which produce discrimination and exclusion. Racism can take many forms, including stereotyping, harassment, negative comments or hate crimes. It can also be deeply rooted in culture, education, values and beliefs which may affect workplace culture and behaviours.
Racism is prohibited under international law. It concerns not only the intent or purpose of different acts, which may be formally neutral, but also their effects. Racial discrimination can be direct or indirect. The treatment applied to an individual or a group must be comparable with that offered to other persons or groups.
We believe that by working together, we can create a more just and equitable society where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their race or ethnicity.
Multilingualism
WHO's 6 official languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish – were established by a 1978 World Health Assembly resolution, turning multilingualism into a WHO policy.
An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and all forms of discrimination.
