Bureau of the COP

The Conference of the Parties elects at each regular session its President as well as five Vice-Presidents. These officers, each representing a WHO region, constitute the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties. According to Rule 21 of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference of the Parties, they shall commence their term of office at the closure of the session and shall serve until the closure of the following regular session of the Conference of the Parties, including for any intervening extraordinary session.

The current Bureau of the Conference of the Parties, elected by the Conference at its Tenth Session on 5-10 February 2024 in Panama City, Panama, can be found below. The order of the Vice-Presidents was drawn by lot at COP10.

• Cote d’Ivoire for the African Region
• Canada for the Region of the Americas
• Tunisia for the Eastern Mediterranean Region
• Spain for the European Region 
• Timor-Leste for the South-East Asia Region
• New Zealand for the Western Pacific Region

According to the Rules of Procedure of the Conference of the Parties, the regional coordinators shall be allowed to observe the Meetings of the Bureau and perform the following functions:

• liaise with the officer of the Bureau representing the region and facilitate consultations with the Parties in the region between the sessions of the Conference of the Parties with a view to informing the work of the Bureau and keeping Parties informed of the Bureau’s work;
• receive working documents or proposals of the Bureau and ensure that they are circulated to the Parties in the region;
• collect and send comments on such documents or proposals to the officer of the Bureau; and
• act as a channel for the exchange of information, including a copy of invitations to the meetings for the implementation of the Convention, and coordination of activities with other regional coordinators.