WHO and the World Health Assembly explained

Global health became a front-page subject with the COVID-19 pandemic, and WHO committees now appear at some Model UN conferences. To do well in one, you need to know how the World Health Organization actually works: it is not part of the UN General Assembly, it has its own members and its own assembly, and, unlike the General Assembly or ECOSOC, it can make rules that bind countries. This guide explains WHO's structure, how the World Health Assembly decides, what it can adopt and how to prepare.

What WHO is

WHO was founded by a Constitution signed on 22 July 1946 by 61 states, which came into force on 7 April 1948. It is "a specialized agency" of the United Nations, brought into relation with the UN under Article 57 of the UN Charter, with its own Constitution, membership and budget.

Its Constitution defines health broadly: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Its objective "shall be the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health," and its functions include acting "as the directing and co-ordinating authority on international health work."

Membership "shall be open to all States." As of October 2026, WHO says it is "an organization of 194 Member States." Its membership is not the same as the UN's: states outside the UN can join by a simple majority vote of the Health Assembly.

Three organs

The Constitution's Article 9 says WHO's work is carried out by the World Health Assembly, the Executive Board and the Secretariat.

• The World Health Assembly is "the decision-making body of WHO," attended by delegations from all members and "held annually in Geneva, Switzerland." It determines WHO's policies, appoints the Director-General, supervises finances and approves the budget.
• The Executive Board has 34 "technically qualified members elected for three-year terms." It meets at least twice a year, usually in January and again after the Assembly, "to give effect to the decisions and policies of the Health Assembly" and to prepare the Assembly's agenda.
• The Secretariat is led by the Director-General, appointed by the Assembly on the Board's nomination. The Director-General and staff "shall not seek or receive instructions from any government."

WHO also has six regions, each with a regional committee and office. India belongs to the South-East Asia Region, whose ten members include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and whose Regional Office is in New Delhi.

How the World Health Assembly works

Each member sends "not more than three delegates," chosen for "their technical competence in the field of health." At each annual session, the Assembly elects a President and five Vice-Presidents. The Assembly has two main committees: Committee A, which deals predominantly with "programme and budget matters," and Committee B, which deals predominantly with "administrative, financial and legal matters."

Voting is equal. "Each Member shall have one vote in the Health Assembly," and there is no veto. Most decisions need "a majority of the Members present and voting." Important questions need a two-thirds majority, including adopting conventions or agreements and amending the Constitution; the Assembly's rules add appointing the Director-General and deciding the amount of the effective working budget. Abstentions do not count, and a tied vote means the proposal fails.

What the Assembly can adopt

This is where WHO differs from the General Assembly and ECOSOC. Its Constitution gives the Assembly three kinds of instrument:

• Conventions or agreements (Article 19): adopted by a two-thirds vote, and binding on each member only once it accepts them through its own constitutional process.
• Regulations (Articles 21 and 22): these come into force for all members after notice, "except for such Members as may notify the Director-General of rejection or reservations" in time.
• Recommendations (Article 23): on any matter within WHO's competence.

Most Assembly resolutions are policy decisions and requests to the Secretariat, but some instruments really do bind. The International Health Regulations (2005) are, in WHO's words, "an instrument of international law that is legally-binding on 197 countries, including the 194 WHO Member States." Amendments adopted in 2024 entered into force on 19 September 2025.

The Assembly also adopted a Pandemic Agreement on 20 May 2025, through resolution WHA78.1. It opens for signature only after the Assembly adopts an annex on pathogen access and benefit sharing. The 79th Assembly, in May 2026, did not adopt it: members agreed that more time was needed, and the talks are to report to the next Assembly, in May 2027, or to an earlier special session. Check the latest status before citing it.

The most recent Assembly

The 79th World Health Assembly met from 18 to 23 May 2026, with Dr Víctor Atallah Lajam, the Dominican Republic's health minister, as President. WHO reported that members "adopted more than 20 decisions and 13 resolutions," and that the Assembly also covered the agreement to reform the global health architecture.

India and WHO

India became a party to the WHO Constitution on 12 January 1948. Its health minister at the time, Dr Harsh Vardhan, was elected Chair of WHO's Executive Board on 22 May 2020.

How to prepare for a WHO committee

• Find out what your committee simulates. The full Assembly, Committee A or B, the Executive Board or a regional committee each has a different role. Many MUN "WHO" committees are a conference's own design.
• Know which instrument you are proposing. A recommendation, a regulation and a convention carry very different weight, and a convention needs a two-thirds vote.
• Use the IHR. For outbreaks and emergencies, the International Health Regulations are the binding framework your proposals should build on.
• Bring health data. Use WHO's own statistics and your country's health ministry reports, with dates.
• Remember the limits. WHO coordinates and sets standards. Countries run their own health systems, and many will resist proposals that look like outside control.

What to do next

For procedure, see MUN rules of procedure explained and how to write an MUN resolution. For the UN body that coordinates the specialised agencies, read ECOSOC explained.

To practise negotiation in a summit setting, Model G20 is One Young India's simulation of the G20 summit for students, held as a three-day residential summit at FLAME University.