Geneva - Saba:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed cutting its budget by 20 percent after the United States, its largest contributor, decided to withdraw, which requires reducing its missions and staff, its director announced in an internal email seen by AFP.
The Director-General of the Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, explained in a letter addressed Friday to workers in the United Nations organization, that the body faces a deficit of about 600 million dollars in 2025 and "has no other choice" but to start making cuts.
During Trump's first term in 2020, the United States began taking steps to leave the World Health Organization (WHO).
Tedros warned at the end of January that the organization would take cost-saving measures.
"Significant cuts in government development assistance by the United States and other countries are causing enormous disruptions for countries, non-governmental organizations and UN agencies, including the WHO," Tedros said in his letter.
In February, the WHO Executive Board cut the proposed budget for 2026 and 2027 from $5.3 billion to $4.9 billion. "Since then, the potential for development assistance has deteriorated," Tedros said, and "we subsequently proposed to member states a lower budget, approximately $4.2 billion, a 21 percent reduction compared to the initially proposed budget."
"Despite all our efforts (...) we have no other option but to reduce our work space and staff," the organization's director concluded.
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