Committee Meetings

Appointment of Top Management Team

Member States in the WIPO Coordination Committee approved by consensus on June 20 the proposals put forward by WIPO Director General Kamil Idris for a new senior management team. With the exception of one Deputy Director General appointment, these posts have been filled from within the Organization, so facilitating continuity in the management structure. The appointments are effective from December 1, 2006, to November 30, 2009.

The Committee noted that all the candidates are well qualified for the proposed positions. The Director General and the Coordination Committee paid warm tributes to the outgoing Deputy Directors General, Mrs. Rita Hayes of the U.S.A. and Mr. Geoffrey Yu of Singapore, with praise for the dedication and commitment to excellence with which they served WIPO.

Dr. Idris said he shared the concern, referred to by several delegations, that equitable geographical distribution and gender balance should be respected in WIPO staffing. He noted that much progress had been made in this regard since his appointment as DG in November 1997. The number of member countries represented in the staff of WIPO rose from 68 in December 1997 to 94 in May 2006, representing an increase of 28 percent.

Dr. Idris also noted that the number of female staff in the professional and higher categories had been 63 out of 209 (30 percent) in December 1997, compared to 184 out of 433 (42 percent) in May 2006, an increase of 12 percent.

The new team consists of the following Deputy Directors General:

* Mr. Philippe Petit (France) (reappointed),

* Mr. Francis Gurry (Australia) (reappointed),

* Mr. Narendra Kumar Sabharwal (India),

* Mr. Michael Keplinger (United States of America).

And of the following Assistant Directors General:

* Mr. Ernesto Rubio (Uruguay) (reappointed),

* Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama (Nigeria),

* Ms. Binying Wang (China).

General Assembly to Decide Future Work on a Development Agenda

The Provisional Committee on Proposals related to a WIPO Development Agenda (PCDA), which met from June 26 to 30, decided to refer a decision on...