Werner Obermeyer is Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) office at UN Headquarters in New York. His portfolio includes the promotion of health in the General Assembly and other inter-governmental bodies and processes, the WHO’s relations with the UN system entities based in New York, as well as non-governmental organizations that focus on public health. He was responsible for the negotiations which culminated in adoption of the 2011, 2014 and 2018 Political Declarations on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, the 2016 and 2024 Political Declarations on Anti-Microbial Resistance, the 2018 and 2023 Political Declarations on Tuberculosis, the 2019 and 2023 Political Declarations on Universal Health Coverage, the 2022 Political Declaration on Road Safety, and the 2023 Political Declaration on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response. He has steered many resolutions through the General Assembly, including the first ever decade on healthy ageing, and the decade of action on nutrition.
He oversees initiatives related to the sustainable development goals, global health and foreign policy, universal health coverage, health security and social protection, road safety, malaria, NCDs, climate change and health, disabilities, narcotics and drugs, mental health and tobacco control. Prior to joining the World Health Organization he was the representative of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) in New York, responsible for environmental governance, health determinants and sustainable development. Before joining the United Nations he served in the South African Foreign Service, holding various senior diplomatic assignments.
