The United States had turned off the taps and the forecasts for the future of the WHO are not rosy, but who are its biggest financiers and how the budget management works
Financing from the United States to the World Health Organization (WHO) they fell by 25 percent during the pandemic, the equivalent of $ 200 million over two years, and Washington’s future support for the UN agency is under scrutiny. The news was reported by the Reuters news agency. TRUMP’S CHOICE
The decision to cut US funds to the WHO was former President Donald Trump, who had made the announcement in April 2020 and then made the choice effective on 6 July 2021.
The organization, which at the beginning of the pandemic did not share the ban imposed by Trump on the entry of travelers from China to the US, was accused by The Donald of being “too pro-Chinese” and of having managed the pandemic in a disastrous way . CRITICISM OF WHO AND ITS DIRECTOR GENERAL
But in the States, not only Trump has criticized the Agency about the pandemic. Even the most progressive and critical American media towards the former president, Repubblica wrote, “were not tender towards the WHO”.
Indeed, it has been stressed several times that the organization waited a month before declaring the pandemic and that its general manager, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, went to Beijing “to pay homage to Xi Jinping, keeping silent about the initial silences and censorship with which the Chinese government hid the epidemic from the world “.
However, France24 said, Ghebreyesus is heading towards his second term as he received the necessary support for his re-election in May yesterday, despite the Ethiopian government recently accusing him of supporting the army from both a diplomatic and military point of view. of the Tigray Liberation Front (Tplf) in the ongoing conflict in the region. THE ARRIVAL (AND DOUBTS) OF BIDEN
The current president Joe Biden, since the election campaign, had however guaranteed that the United States would return to the organization they had helped to found in 1948 and so it was.
In WHO’s upcoming two-year budget, Reuters writes, US funds are set to rise again, given the pledges made and the $ 280 million promised by the Biden administration, however, Washington has also raised doubts about future support for the organization and on his ability to face new challenges.
“The United States tries to better understand current funding mechanisms, efficiencies and decision making before considering an increase in assessed contributions,” Mara Burr, a US health officer, told news agency.WHO FINANCES THE WHO MORE The
25% drop in funding is the result of the cuts imposed by Trump, but according to a document viewed exclusively by Reuters, the agency still managed to do it even without US funding thanks to other donors which allowed an increase in its total budget.
Washington, in the last two years has paid $ 672 million to the WHO, while in the two-year period 2018-19 it had been 893. This meant that the United States was no longer the first donor, giving way to Germany, which gradually replaced by sending transfers worth more than a billion dollars over the past two years. In third place is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with $ 584 million donated in 2020-21 and largely spent on a global program that aims to eradicate polio. HOW LOANS TO WHO WORK
Ghebreyesus reiterated that the current financing model is unsustainable because it is too rigid: “The problem is that whatever we have done is mainly an allocated budget, so it is not flexible enough”.
“WHO’s future success will depend on your support,” said the director general, addressing the 194 member states. Currently, 16% of the budget comes from mandatory state contributions (which Ghebreyesus would like to raise to 50% by 2028-2029), while the rest is made up of voluntary contributions from public and private donors who decide the sectors or even the projects in which must be used.
Referring to the 2018-2019 budget, Corriere della Sera wrote: “In fact, WHO manages 20% of its budget, because the rest are specific projects decided by private individuals, and not all transparent”.
WHO lenders 2018-2019
