The World Health Organization (WHO) is planning to cut staff and scale back its operations after reducing its budget by more than 20% due to U.S. funding cuts, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters.
In January, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew from the WHO, criticizing the organization for mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises.
The U.S., the WHO’s largest financial contributor, accounted for about 18% of its funding.
“The United States' announcement, combined with recent reductions in official development assistance by some countries to fund increased defense spending, has made our situation much more acute,” stated the WHO memo, dated March 28 and signed by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. withdrawal has worsened a funding crisis as member states cut their development spending. Faced with a nearly $600 million income gap this year, the WHO has proposed slashing its budget for 2026-27 by 21%, from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion, according to the memo.
In February, the WHO’s executive board had initially reduced the proposed budget for 2026-27 from $5.3 billion to $4.9 billion, the memo said.
“Despite our best efforts, we are now at the point where we have no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce,” the memo said.
The WHO will cut jobs at the senior leadership level at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, though all levels and regions will be affected, the memo added. It will decide how to prioritize its work and resources by the end of April.
WHO documents show that more than a quarter of its 9,473 staff are based in Geneva.
An internal memo from March 10, also seen by Reuters, said the WHO had begun fixing priorities and announced a one-year limit on staff contracts.
The memo said staff were working to secure additional funding from countries, private donors, and philanthropists.
