Nato’s spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah is stepping down from her role to join the World Health Organisation at a crucial time for the UN public health agency − which faces a massive budget reduction as the US prepares to withdraw.
Ms Dakhlallah became Nato’s first spokesperson of Arab descent when she joined the alliance last year, as it navigated the war in Ukraine and a backlash over the war in Gaza.
The British Lebanese communications expert served under two secretary generals, Jens Stoltenberg and his successor, former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, who took up the position in October. She also navigated the lead-up to Donald Trump returning as US President, and his demand that European states pay more into their defence budgets to cover Nato commitments.
Ms Dakhlallah will now join the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean programme in Cairo, having previously worked at the organisation’s headquarters in Geneva. The agency could lose up to a fifth of its budget, after President Trump ordered the US withdrawal from the organisation on Tuesday.
“I am stepping down as Nato spokesperson to return to a team, a sector, and a region that hold a special place in my heart,” Ms Dakhlallah wrote on social media.
“I am grateful for the unique experience of the past year, serving alongside two secretaries general and the wider Nato team.
“I wish secretary general Rutte every success with the important work ahead. Now, it’s time to return home − to the World Health Organisation.”
“I hope to contribute, in my own small way, to improving health for the region’s 750 million people,” she wrote.
The challenges facing the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean programme are immense, as a fragile ceasefire in Gaza will allow for urgently needed aid and recovery operations.
Last month, the WHO reported that 16 of Gaza's 36 hospitals were partially operational, with 20 closed. It said 30,000 people required treatment for life-changing injuries, while the transmission of infectious diseases has massively increased.
Before joining Nato, Ms Dakhlallah led the UK pharmaceuticals company AstraZeneca's communications for the Middle East and North Africa, and spent two years as an Arabic spokeswoman for the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
She was an undergraduate at Saint Joseph University of Beirut and later studied at the London School of Economics and the University of Cambridge.
