WHO starts process of slimming down in response to US cuts
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The WHO has not announced staff cuts, but it is looking at having to make “difficult decisions”.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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GENEVA – The World Health Organisation (WHO) has started a process of fixing new priorities and announced a one-year limit on staff contracts as it adjusts to a future without the United States.
The memo, dated March 10 and signed by WHO Assistant Director-General Raul Thomas, laid out further cost-cutting measures, the latest in a series of such steps since US President Donald Trump’s announcement in January
Senior WHO officials have begun “prioritisation” work over the past three weeks to make the global health agency sustainable, the document says.
“While operating in an extremely fluid environment, WHO’s senior management are working to navigate these shifting tides by undertaking a prioritisation process,” the memo said.
“Their work will ensure that every resource is directed toward the most pressing priorities while preserving WHO’s ability to make a lasting impact,” it said.
It added that staff are working to secure additional funding from countries, private donors and philanthropists, without saying if these processes have been successful.
It stopped short of announcing immediate staff cuts but said that “given the magnitude of the challenges we face, some difficult decisions are unavoidable”. REUTERS
