Zimbabwean National, Chido Mpemba, Appointed As WHO Commissioner
Chido Cleopatra Mpemba has been appointed as a Commissioner and Co-Chair of the Social Connection Commission by the World Health Organization (WHO), reported NewsDay.
The Commission will have its Secretariat housed at the WHO headquarters in Geneva Switzerland.
It will run under a three-year term on efforts to position mental health related to social isolation as a global political priority.
Mpemba (35) currently serves as the youngest diplomat in the African Union Chairperson’s Cabinet.
In making the appointment, WHO stated that Mpemba was chosen in recognition of her leadership in confronting current global challenges.
She makes history as the youngest commissioner and chair to have been appointed by the WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus.
Mpemba will Co-chair the Commission alongside Vivek Murthy, who served as the 19th Surgeon General, under President Obama’s administration and currently serving as the 21st Surgeon General of the U.S. State Department.
The other Commissioners are:
- Vice-President of the European Commission, Dubravka Suica
- Japanese Minister in charge of loneliness and isolation, Ayuko Kato
- Moroccan Minister of Health and Social Protection, Khalid Ait Taleb
- Sweden’s Minister of social affairs and public health, Jakob Forssmed
- Kenyan Permanent Representative to the UN, Cleopa Mailu
- Vanuatu Minister of Climate Change and Environment, Ralph Regenvanu
- US disability rights advocate, Haben Girma
- Pakistan elder and human rights lawyer, Hina Jilan
- US Chief Health Officer, Karen Desalvo.
Earlier this year Mpemba was appointed as a Commissioner for the Climate Governance Commission Chaired by the Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.
She is currently in New York participating in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78) to which the Climate Governance Report is due to be released.
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