GENEVA: The World Well being Group (WHO) is proposing to cut back workers numbers and the dimensions of its work because it slashes its funds by simply over one fifth as a result of influence of US funding cuts, in accordance with an inside memo seen by Reuters.
US President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew from the WHO upon taking workplace in January, saying the worldwide well being company had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and different worldwide well being crises. The US is by far the UN well being company’s largest monetary backer, contributing round 18 per cent of its general funding.
“The USA’ announcement, mixed with current reductions in official growth help by some nations to fund elevated defence spending, has made our state of affairs rather more acute”, said the WHO memo, which was dated Mar 28 and signed by WHO’s Director-Normal Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The WHO didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The US withdrawal has exacerbated a funding disaster resulting from member states lowering their growth spending. Confronted with an earnings hole of almost US$600 million this 12 months, the WHO has proposed to slash its funds for 2026-27 by 21 per cent from US$5.3 billion to US$4.2 billion, in accordance with the memo.
In February, the WHO’s government board had initially decreased the proposed funds for 2026-27 from US$5.3 billion to US$4.9 billion, in accordance with the observe.
“Regardless of our greatest efforts, we are actually on the level the place we now have no alternative however to cut back the dimensions of our work and workforce,” the memo mentioned.
The WHO will scale back jobs at senior management stage at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, although all ranges and areas might be affected, the memo added. It can determine on how one can prioritize its work and sources by the top of April.
WHO paperwork present the UN company has over 1 / 4 of its 9,473 workers in Geneva.
An inside memo from Mar 10, which was additionally seen by Reuters, mentioned the World Well being Group had begun fixing priorities and introduced a one-year restrict on workers contracts.
The memo mentioned that workers had been working to safe extra funding from nations, personal donors and philanthropists.
