By Deborah Nnamdi
The head of the World Health Organization, WHO, admitted on Tuesday that U.S. funding cuts have created a significant budget shortfall for the UN agency, leading to reduced operations and staff layoffs.
“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,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states, according to a transcript of his opening remarks.
The United Nations health agency has been preparing for the anticipated full withdrawal of the United States — historically its largest donor — set for next January.
At the same time, President Donald Trump’s administration has declined to pay the assessed contributions for 2024 and 2025, the mandatory membership fees, while also freezing nearly all U.S. foreign aid, including substantial support for global health initiatives.
Several other nations have also been scaling back their foreign aid budgets.
In response to these developments, the WHO has been reconsidering its organizational structure — a plan that Director-General Tedros shared with 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,” he acknowledged.
The lower end of that spectrum “represents about 25 percent of staff costs” currently, he said, stressing though that “that doesn’t necessarily mean a 25-percent cut to the number of positions”.
He did not say how many jobs would be lost, but said the most significant impact was expected to be felt at the organisation’s headquarters in Geneva, and “we are starting with reductions in senior management”.
“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,” Tedros said.
“These are very painful decisions for all of us.”
