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Plain English summary In May, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – Dr. Tedros, as he is commonly referred to – was elected the next Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) [1].It was a historic moment for two reasons. It was the first-ever formal Director-General election by all government Member States of the WHO and Dr. Tedros will be the first Director-General of the WHO to hail from Africa [2, 3]. Dr. Tedros, the former Minister of Health of Ethiopia, who saw his country through a bold scale-up of the health system including an impressive Health Extension Worker Program, has quite the job in front of him [1]. The WHO carries an ambitious mandate: to ‘ensure the highest attainable level of health for all people’ [4].Within this expansive mandate comes nuance – disease specific and context specific distinctions layered with various structural, social, and environmental determinants – and competing priorities. Add to that a loud cry for reform of the WHO from governments across the globe, and the new Director-General surely has his work cut out for him. Early performance of a chief executive is often measured against their achievement through the first 100 days, and Dr. Tedros will be under scrutiny from many sides. However, the WHO is a complex, Member State-led organization and changing it will take time. Dr. Tedros should get a little more than 100 days to turn the ship around – and he should get the support he needs from the community and many stakeholders both within and outside the health space. Women Deliver, as a recognized global advocacy organization, commits to supporting and helping where we can – and also to holding him accountable to his promises, and nudging when and if needed [5]. That is what friends are for. Here are three recommendations that Dr. Tedros should focus on during his first three months – and beyond: First, advancing gender equality and investing in the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women, is an investment that multiplies. All evidence shows that investing in women is an investment in progress for all – families, communities, and entire countries. It is essential to the realization of all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 3, which is devoted to the health and wellbeing of all, at all stages in life [6]. So, an absolute first for Dr. Tedros is to continue to stand up for investments in women’s health and wellbeing, including women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, and to apply a gender lens to noncommunicable diseases. Simultaneously, he should ensure a much better gender balance across the organization, including the advancement of the WHO’s new policy on gender equality in staffing. Adopted early in 2017, this policy calls for at least a 1.5% increase annually for the next five years in the number of female staff members at the P4 level and above in WHO professional postings, with the goal of gender parity at the highest levels [7]. But his leadership must go beyond the walls of the WHO to speak up against the current attacks on women’s ability to decide on their own fertility, including access to modern contraception and abortion. He should work closely with civil society organizations to ensure that evidencebased solutions from the WHO are translated into standard guidelines, practices, and policies that will save the lives of women, children, and adolescents everywhere. Dr. Tedros’ key priority – Universal Health Coverage – must not compromise on the provision of sexual and reproductive health for all. It must be an essential part of services and coverage [5]. Second, it is a popular and true saying that if we focus on health and health alone, we will never solve the health problems the world faces. To make the advancements in health that are currently envisioned across Correspondence: kiversen@womendeliver.org Women Deliver, 588 Broadway, Suite 905, New York, NY 10012, USA

Three recommendations to the new Director-General of the WHO on how to deliver for girls and women