World Health Organization Faces Significant Staff Cuts After US Funding Withdrawal
The global public health agency has announced plans to reduce its workforce by almost a fourth – amounting to more than two thousand positions – before mid-2026.
Funding Crisis Prompts Major Restructuring
This move comes following the United States, previously the agency's largest donor, withdrew financial support earlier this year.
The US government had been contributing about 18% of the agency's overall funding, causing a substantial budgetary shortfall.
Expected Staff Reductions
Based on internal estimates, the staff will decrease from nine thousand four hundred and one positions in January 2025 to around 7,030 by mid-2026.
The decrease of 2,371 posts comprises job cuts, employees retiring, and natural attrition.
"This year has been among the toughest in our existence, as we have navigated a painful but essential process of prioritization and restructuring," stated the agency's director-general.
Budget Gap Remains
The Switzerland-headquartered organization now confronts a budget shortfall of 1.06 billion dollars for the upcoming biennium, amounting to almost a quarter of its required budget.
This figure marks an improvement from a prior estimated gap of $1.7bn reported in spring.
Excluded Finances
The budget projections exclude an additional $1.1bn in expected contributions from ongoing negotiations with multiple contributors.
The spokesperson for the agency stated that the present unsecured portion of the biennial budget is in fact lower than in earlier years, attributing this to multiple factors:
- A smaller overall budget size
- The launch of a new donor outreach effort
- An increase in member states' mandatory contributions
This restructuring process is currently nearing its end, allowing the organization to move forward with a renewed operational model.