WHO regional office for Africa to return to Brazzaville

The UN World Health Organisation regional office for Africa will return on 1 October to its original headquarters in Brazzaville, which it vacated in 1997 after the premises were ransacked during the height of the civil war in the Republic of Congo (ROC), PANA news agency reported. Established in Brazzaville in 1951, the WHO regional office was seriously damaged in 1997 during clashes between supporters of President Pascal Lissouba and those backing Denis Sassou-Nguesso, then the head of the United Democratic Forces, according to PANA. In August 1997, the regional office with its 400 employees was temporarily transferred to Harare, Zimbabwe. Concerned about preserving the numerous advantages ROC derives from the presence of the office in Brazzaville, ROC President Sassou-Nguesso’s regime disbursed nearly US $11 million to renovate the WHO building, situated in the southern part of Brazzaville, PANA reported. It is estimated that ROC lost about US $137.5 million in foreign currency during the four-year absence of the regional office, as it is among the major customers of the water and electricity companies, hotels and supermarkets in Brazzaville. ROC President Denis Sassou-Nguesso officially turned over keys of the completely renovated building to the Director General of WHO, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, on the sidelines of the 51st session of the organisation’s regional committee that concluded on Saturday. WHO regional director for Africa Dr Ebrahim Samba was said by PANA to have expressed satisfaction with the “commendable efforts” exerted by ROC authorities to rehabilitate the head office, saying conditions were favourable for a return to the permanent regional headquarters in Brazzaville.