World Health Organisation (WHO) Member States have approved a 20 per cent increase in assessed contributions and endorsed the organisation’s 4.2 billion dollar budget for 2026 to 2027.
In a statement, the WHO said that the 20 per cent increase comes as governments face financial constraints and economic headwinds and demonstrates Member States’ fundamental support for global health solidarity and the WHO’s critical role.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, and other officials appreciated member states for their backing and collaboration.
The WHO boss expressed their vote of confidence in the WHO’s mission and their commitment to health security and resilience worldwide.
He said, “Insufficient levels of predictable funding for WHO have hindered its ability to carry out long-term projects and support its global operations to promote health for all.
“In addition, over-reliance on funding from a small set of traditional donors was identified as a major organisational challenge as part of WHO’s Transformation initiative that launched in 2017.”
According to him, in 2022, WHO member states agreed on an historic hike in their levied contributions by gradually increasing their membership dues to represent 50 per cent of WHO’s core budget by the 2030 to the 2031 cycle, at the latest.
“While this work began years ago, due to recent changes in the global financial landscape, sustainable financing is more important than ever before.
“WHO’s originally approved 2026 to 27 programme budget was downsized 22 per cent from 5.3 billion dollars to 4.2 billion dollars due to financial constraints.
“Today’s approval of WHO’s base programme budget of 4.2 billion dollars for 2026 to 2027 is the first to be fully developed based on the organisation’s Fourteenth General Programme of Work, 2025 to 2028 (GPW 14), its global health strategy for the next four years,” he added.
