GENEVA: The World Health Organization chief acknowledged on Tuesday that US funding cuts had left the UN agency with a huge budget gap, forcing it to slash operations and lay off staff.
"The sudden drop in income has left us with a large salary gap and no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states, according to a transcript of his opening remarks.
The United Nations health agency has been bracing for the planned full withdrawal of the United States--traditionally its largest donor by far--next January.
US President Donald Trump's administration has meanwhile also refused to pay agreed membership fees--called assessed contributions--for 2024 and 2025, even as it has frozen virtually all US foreign aid, including vast assistance to health projects worldwide. A number of other countries have also been reducing their foreign aid spending.
Faced with this situation, the WHO has been reflecting on a new organisational structure, which Tedros presented to staff and member states on Tuesday.
"The refusal of the US to pay its assessed contributions for 2024 and 2025, combined with reductions in official development assistance by some other countries, means we are facing a salary gap for the 2026–27 biennium of between $560 and $650 million," he acknowledged.
The lower end of that spectrum "represents about 25 percent of staff costs" currently, he said, stressing though that "that doesn't necessarily mean a 25-percent cut to the number of positions."
He did not say how many jobs would be lost, but said the most significant impact was expected to be felt at the organisation's headquarters in Geneva, and "we are starting with reductions in senior management."
"We are reducing 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," Tedros said.
"These are very painful decisions for all of us."