WHO worker crowd-funds for the UN agency after Trump pulls US out of it
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The "1 Dollar, 1 World" campaign by WHO staff member Tania Cernuschi is asking people around the world to give one dollar to the World Health Organisation to replace lost US funds.
PHOTO: REUTERS
GENEVA - A World Health Organisation staff member hopes to raise enough money through fund-raising on social media to soften the impact of President Donald Trump pulling the United States out
The "1 Dollar, 1 World" campaign is asking people around the world to give one dollar to the UN health agency that fights chronic and emerging diseases worldwide and to post a photo of themselves on social media with their index finger raised.
Ms Tania Cernuschi, a WHO staff member of 10 years who has worked on improving vaccine access, said she thought of the campaign when she could not sleep after Mr Trump's announcement.
"I felt frustrated, I felt disappointed," Ms Cernuschi said in an interview at the UN agency's Geneva headquarters.
"I was, as everybody I think, unsettled by the announcement," she said, saying funding cuts would cost lives.
The US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) she aims to raise roughly corresponds to what the US, the agency's biggest donor, has given on average for each two-year budget, WHO data showed.
So far, Ms Cernuschi's campaign had raised around $58,000, a fraction of the target, since last week's launch.
Many early donors are senior WHO staff, including epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove, who became one of the public faces of the agency during Covid-19, and donors based in wealthy countries like Switzerland and the US.
That trend means the campaign might "come off as UN civil servants fund-raising to protect their own salaries and work programmes" said global health consultant Tina Purnat in a blog.
Asked to respond, Ms Cernuschi said: "I think we're all privileged here. But we work for people who are not privileged, and that's why our work is important."
Ms Cernuschi hopes to raise US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion), which roughly corresponds to what the US, the agency’s biggest donor, has given on average for each two-year budget.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus voiced support. "I'm proud of her. All the staff are saying we are part of the solution," he told Reuters.
Ms Cernuschi, a 46-year-old Italian who has worked in public health for 25 years, said it was to be expected that people from richer countries gave more
Donations are now coming in from Ukraine, India and parts of Africa, she said, and referred to a message from an Indian woman.
"She said, 'You have an army behind you'. And it was very touching. And I felt it. I said, I wrote back: I feel the army." REUTERS
