Geneva: The World Health Organization announced a broad restructuring and staff layoffs, explaining that the US funding cut has left the UN Agency without a supporter in the face of a huge budget gap. While the number of positions to be cut remains unknown, the organization’s CEO announced that the management team at headquarters will be reduced from 12 to seven members.
According to National Iraqi News Agency, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the organization’s member states: “The sudden reduction in income has left us with a significant salary gap and has left us with no choice but to reduce the scope of our work and our workforce.”
The WHO is preparing for the withdrawal of the United States, its largest donor to date, next January. In addition, the Administration of US President Donald Trump has refused to pay the agreed-upon membership dues for 2024 and 2025, while almost completely freezing US foreign aid, including massive aid for health projects worldwide. A number of other countries have also cut their foreign aid spending.
In response to this situation, the WHO has begun considering a new organizational structure, which Tedros presented to staff and member states on Tuesday. He acknowledged that “the US refusal to pay its assessed contributions for 2024 and 2025, along with the reduction in official development assistance by some other countries, means we face a salary gap for 2026-2027 of between $560 million and $650 million.”
He added that “the minimum represents about 25% of staff costs” currently, but stressed that “this does not necessarily mean a 25% reduction in staff.” He did not specify the number of employees who would be laid off, but said that “the greatest impact will be at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva, and we will start with senior management,” stressing that “these decisions are extremely painful.” He also explained: “We will reduce 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.”