Khaberni - The World Health Organization announced it needs one billion dollars to cover its budget for the 2026-2027 period, as it strives hard to compensate for the United States' withdrawal from it this year.
U.S. President Donald Trump, whose country was the largest donor to the United Nations-affiliated organization, decided to halt its funding since his return to the White House in January 2025. Consequently, the organization had to reduce its previously approved budget from 5.3 billion dollars to 4.2 billion dollars.
The Director-General of the organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a briefing to member states on Wednesday, said, "This year has been one of the toughest in the history of the World Health Organization; we underwent a difficult but necessary prioritization and realignment process, which resulted in a significant reduction in our workforce."
He added, "We are approaching the end of this process."
He noted that the organization had secured 75% of the funding for the 2026-2027 budget, but still faced a deficit of one billion dollars, pointing out that it is in a "much worse position than before in terms of mobilizing resources."
The member states had agreed in May to increase mandatory contributions by 20%. However, the organization still heavily relies on voluntary contributions from member states and other donors.
Facing a decline in international aid, thousands of health facilities had to reduce services or suspend operations in areas most in need of humanitarian support. As a result, the organization had to prioritize those most in need.
Tedros stated that adopting measures to cut costs contributed to reducing the number of jobs that the organization had to eliminate, from 2900 as expected, to 1282. Moreover, he reported that 1089 employees voluntarily left through retirement, early retirement, or at the end of their temporary contracts.
