WHO members agree to 20% rise in mandatory contributions

Keystone / Martial Trezzini

World Health Organization (WHO) member states have agreed in committee talks to raise their mandatory contributions by 20% from 2026. If the resolution is backed in the plenary session, the organisation’s budget for 2026-2027 will rise to CHF4.2 billion ($5.1 billion).

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“Thank you,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday, addressing member states after they backed a plan to gradually raise mandatory contributions to 50% of the organisation’s core budget by 2030-2031. The decision covering 2026 and 2027 is expected to provide an interim boost of around $90 million.

Switzerland is set to increase its budget from CHF6.5 million to around CHF7 million next year. On top of that, Swiss Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider announced on Monday that the country will contribute an additional $80 million in voluntary funding for the 2025-2028 period.

On Tuesday, Switzerland’s ambassador for global health, Barbara Schedler Fischer, reaffirmed the country’s support for the reforms led by Dr Tedros, despite financial pressures caused by the planned US withdrawal next January. She stressed that the WHO should focus on its core responsibilities, setting global health standards and supporting countries on the ground.

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Dr Tedros has announced plans to cut the organisation’s senior management team from 14 to 7 members and reduce the number of departments from 76 to 34. The agency is facing a major funding gap and needs to raise around $600 million by the end of the year, and more than $1.6 billion to cover the 2026-2027 period.

The draft budget for 2026-2027 has been cut from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion, forcing the WHO to scale back some of its activities. Speaking on Monday, Dr Tedros called the funding “extremely modest”. “Either we reduce what this organisation is and what it does, or we give it more money,” he warned.

On Tuesday evening, several governments, including Switzerland, along with a number of foundations, pledged at least an extra $170 million. That figure doesn’t include China’s separate announcement just hours earlier, promising $500 million over five years to support other WHO member states.

Translated from French with DeepL/sp

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