The World Health Organization (WHO) announced it requires $1 billion to close the funding gap in its 2026–2027 budget, after reducing its previously approved spending plan from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion when the United States halted its financial support early in 2025.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as saying during a briefing to member states on Tuesday that “the current year was among the hardest in the Organization’s history, due to a massive restructure and setting priorities which resulted in a big reduction in workforce.”
He noted the Organization has so far secured 75 percent of the required funding for the upcoming budget, but still faces a $1 billion deficit.
Ghebreyesus explained — in paraphrased form — that cost-cutting measures reduced the number of eliminated jobs from 2,900 to 1,282, while 1,089 staff left voluntarily through retirement or contract expiration. He added that declining international contributions forced thousands of health facilities to scale back services in the most vulnerable regions.
He further stated in direct quotation that “the increase in member states’ mandatory contributions by 20 percent last May was not enough to compensate for the shortage,” noting that WHO continues to rely heavily on voluntary funding from countries and donors.
The report said U.S. President Donald Trump, whose country had been the largest donor to the UN health agency, halted funding upon returning to the White House in January 2025, forcing the Organization to reduce its already approved budget from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion.
WHO’s financing depends on a combination of assessed contributions from member states and voluntary contributions, the latter constituting the bulk of its budget. With the renewed U.S. funding cutoff, the Organization faces broad financial pressures affecting its relief and health programs, particularly in low-income countries that rely on WHO support to operate health facilities, conduct vaccination campaigns and respond to epidemics.
