U.S. budget cuts could compel the World Health Organization to reduce operations and lay off employees, according to CEO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
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An excerpt from Ghebreyesus’s Tuesday opening speech indicates that he brought this up while speaking to the member states.
He explained that they had to cut back on staff and projects because of the unexpected decline in revenue, which had left them with a big wage gap.
The UN health agency has been preparing for January 2026, when the United States, its longest-standing and most generous donor, is expected to completely withdraw its support.
At the same time, the Trump administration has declined to pay the agreed-upon membership costs (also called assessed contributions) for 2024 and 2025. U.S. foreign aid, particularly large sums allocated to international health initiatives, has been effectively halted.
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According to Ghebreyesus, there will be a wage shortfall of $560 to $650 million for the 2026-27 biennium due to the US’s failure to pay its assessed contributions for 2024 and 2025 and other nations’ decreases in official development aid.
On one end of the spectrum, he mentioned that “that doesn’t necessarily mean a 25 per cent cut to the number of positions.” On the other end, he mentioned that “that represents about 25 per cent of staff costs” current.
The number of departments will be cut by more than half, from 76 to 34, and the senior leadership team at headquarters will be reduced from 12 to seven, he continued.
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