Key points
- No choice but to reduce scale of our work and workforce: Tedros
- US gave WHO $1.3 billion for its 2022-2023 budget
- US’s decision to dismantle USAID has made “very severe” impacts in developing nations: Tedros
ISLAMABAD: The World Health Organization (WHO) chief said that operations and jobs would be slashed as US funding cuts had left the UN agency with a budget hole of several hundred million dollars.
AFP cited Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as saying, “The sudden drop in income has left us with a large salary gap and no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce.”
The UN health agency has been bracing for President Donald Trump’s planned full withdrawal of the United States — by far its largest donor — next January.
The sudden drop in income has left us with a large salary gap and no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce.” – WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Earlier, Reuters reported that WHO is proposing to reduce staff numbers and the scale of its work as it slashes its budget by just over one fifth due to the impact of US funding cuts.
The US gave WHO $1.3 billion for its 2022-2023 budget, mainly through voluntary contributions for specific projects rather than fixed membership fees, according to AFP.
This has left the WHO preparing a new structure, which Tedros presented to staff and member states on Tuesday.
“The refusal of the US to pay its assessed contributions for 2024 and 2025, combined with reductions in official development assistance by some other countries, means we are facing a salary gap for the 2026–27 biennium of between $560 and $650 million,” AFP cited WHO chief as saying.
The lower end of that spectrum “represents about 25 per cent of staff costs” currently, he said, stressing though “that doesn’t necessarily mean a 25 per cent cut to the number of positions”.
He did not say how many jobs would be lost at the WHO, which employ over 8,000 people worldwide.
“Very painful”
But Tedros acknowledged that “we will be saying goodbye to a significant number of colleagues” and vowed to do so “humanely”.
Tedros has insisted that the most significant impact would likely be felt at the organisation’s headquarters in Geneva. “We are starting with reductions in senior management,” he said.
“We are reducing the senior leadership team at headquarters from 12 to seven, and the number of departments will be reduced by (more than) half, from 76 to 34,” AFP cited Tedros as saying.
WHO’s regional offices would meanwhile be affected “to varying degrees”, he said, saying that some country offices in wealthier countries would likely be closed.
“These are very painful decisions for all of us,” Tedros said. The WHO chief insisted the situation could have been worse.
Greater self-reliance
WHO member states agreed in 2022 to significantly increase membership fees and reduce the portion of WHO’s budget covered by less reliable and often earmarked voluntary contributions.
“Without the increase, assessed contributions for the current biennium would have been $746 million,” he said, adding that instead, WHO expects to receive $1.07 billion in membership fees for 2026-27, “even without the US contribution”.
The US administration’s decision to virtually dismantle the US foreign aid arm, USAID, and freeze nearly all assistance, including to health projects worldwide, had made “very severe” impacts in developing nations especially, Tedros said.
But WHO, he said, would now need to focus on helping nations “transition away from aid dependency to greater self-reliance”, he said.
Reuters reported that US President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew from the WHO upon taking office in January, adding the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises.
