immediate action. In particular it may authorize the DirectorGeneral to take the necessary steps to combat epidemics, to participate in the organization of health relief to victims of a calamity and to undertake studies and research the urgency of which has been drawn to the attention of the Board by any Member or by the Director-General. Article 29 The Board shall exercise on behalf of the whole Health Assembly the powers delegated to it by that body. CHAPTER VII THE SECRETARIAT Article 30 The Secretariat shall comprise the Director-General and such technical and administrative staff as the Organization may require. Article 31 The Director-General shall be appointed by the Health Assembly on the nomination of the Board on such terms as the Health Assembly may determine. The Director-General, subject to the authority of the Board, shall be the chief technical and administrative officer of the Organization. Article 32 The Director-General shall be ex officio Secretary of the Health Assembly, of the Board, of all commissions and committees of the Organization and of conferences convened by it. He may delegate these functions. Article 33 The Director-General or his representative may establish a procedure by agreement with Members, permitting him, for the purpose of discharging his duties, to have direct access to their various departments, especially to their health administrations and to national health organizations, governmental or non-governmental. He may also establish direct relations with international organizations whose activities come within the competence of the Organization. He shall keep Regional Offices informed on all matters involving their respective areas. Article 34 The Director-General shall prepare and submit annually to the Board the financial statements and budget estimates of the Organization. Article 35 The Director-General shall appoint the staff of the Secretariat in accordance with staff regulations established by the Health Assembly. The paramount consideration in the employment of the staff shall be to assure that the efficiency, integrity and internationally representative character of the Secretariat shall be maintained at the highest level. Due regard shall be paid also to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. Article 36 The conditions of service of the staff of the Organization shall conform as far as possible with those of other United Nations organizations. Article 37 In the performance of their duties the Director-General and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officers. Each Member of the Organization on its part undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the DirectorGeneral and the staff and not to seek to influence them. CHAPTER VIII COMMITTEES Article 38 The Board shall establish such committees as the Health Assembly may direct and, on its own initiative or on the proposal of the DirectorGeneral, may establish any other committees considered desirable to serve any purpose within the competence of the Organization. Article 39 The Board, from time to time and in any event annually, shall review the necessity for continuing each committee. Article 40 The Board may provide for the creation of or the participation by the Organization in joint or mixed committees with other organizations and for the representation of the Organization in committees established by such other organizations. CHAPTER IX CONFERENCES Article 41 The Health Assembly or the Board may convene local, general, technical or other special conferences to consider any matter within the competence of the Organization and may provide for the representation at such conferences of international organizations and, with the consent of the government concerned, of national organizations, governmental or non-governmental. The manner of such representation shall be determined by the Health Assembly or the Board. Article 42 The Board may provide for representation of the Organization at conferences in which the Board considers that the Organization has an interest. CHAPTER X HEADQUARTERS Article 43 The location of the headquarters of the Organization shall be determined by the Health Assembly after consultation with the United Nations. CHAPTER XI REGIONAL ARRANGEMENTS Article 44 (a) The Health Assembly shall from time to time define the geographical areas in which it is desirable to establish a regional organization. (b) The Health Assembly may, with the consent of a majority of the Members situated within each area so defined, establish a regional organization to meet the special needs of such area. There shall not be more than one regional organization in each area. Article 45 Each regional organization shall be an integral part of the Organization in accordance with this Constitution. Article 46 . Each regional organization shall consist of a Regional Committee and a Regional Office. 81969-49- -2 Article 47 Regional Committees shall be composed of representatives of the Member States and Associate Members in the region concerned. Territories or groups of territories within the region, which are not responsible for the conduct of their international relations and which are not Associate Members, shall have the right to be represented and to participate in Regional Committees. The nature and extent of the rights and obligations of these territories or groups of territories in Regional Committees shall be determined by the Health Assembly in consultation with the Member or other authority having responsibility for the international relations of these territories and with the Member States in the region. Article 48 Regional Committees shall meet as often as necessary and shall determine the place of each meeting. Article 49. Regional Committees shall adopt their own rules of procedure. Article 50 The functions of the Regional Committee shall be: (a) to formulate policies governing matters of an exclusively regional character; (b) to supervise the activities of the Regional Office; (c) to suggest to the Regional Office the calling of technical conferences and such additional work or investigation in health matters as in the opinion of the Regional Committee would promote the objective of the Organization within the region; (d) to co-operate with the respective regional committees of the United Nations and with those of other specialized agencies and with other regional international organizations having interests in common with the Organization; (e) to tender advice, through the Director-General, to the Organization on international health matters which have wider than regional significance; (f) to recommend additional regional appropriations by the governments of the respective regions if the proportion of the central budget of the Organization allotted to that region is insufficient for the carrying out of the regional functions; (g) such other functions as may be delegated to the Regional Committee by the Health Assembly, the Board or the DirectorGeneral. Article 51 Subject to the general authority of the Director-General of the Organization, the Regional Office shall be the administrative organ of the Regional Committee. It shall, in addition, carry out within the region the decisions of the Health Assembly and of the Board. Article 52 The head of the Regional Office shall be the Regional Director appointed by the Board in agreement with the Regional Committee. Article 53 The staff of the Regional Office shall be appointed in a manner to be determined by agreement between the Director-General and the Regional Director. Article 54 The Pan American sanitary organization represented by the Pan American Sanitary Bureau and the Pan American Sanitary Conferences, and all other inter-governmental regional health organizations in existence prior to the date of signature of this Constitution, shall in due course be integrated with the Organization. This integration shall be effected as soon as practicable through common action based on mutual consent of the competent authorities expressed through the organizations concerned. CHAPTER XII BUDGET AND EXPENSES The Director-General shall prepare and submit to the Board the annual budget estimates of the Organization. The Board shall consider and submit to the Health Assembly such budget estimates, together with any recommendations the Board may deem advisable. Article 56 Subject to any agreement between the Organization and the United Nations, the Health Assembly shall review and approve the budget estimates and shall apportion the expenses among the Members in accordance with a scale to be fixed by the Health Assembly. Article 57 The Health Assembly or the Board acting on behalf of the Health Assembly may accept and administer gifts and bequests made to the Organization provided that the conditions attached to such gifts or |