The World Health Organization (WHO) is enacting a hiring freeze, suspending investments, and drastically reducing non-essential travel in response to the United States’ withdrawal from the organization, Bloomberg reports.
The move comes after US President Donald Trump’s decision, which has left the WHO scrambling to replace its largest donor.
In an email to staff on January 23, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the US withdrawal “has made our financial situation more acute.” He announced that the organization would be implementing “cost redundancies and efficiencies” to navigate the funding shortfall.
Specifically, the WHO is freezing all hiring except in “the most critical areas.” Travel expenditures will be significantly reduced, with all meetings mandated to be virtual unless an exception is granted. Furthermore, office renovations and expansions have been suspended.
Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the WHO, signed as one of his first executive orders upon returning to office, has created a significant financial challenge for the global health body. The US contributed $1.3 billion to the WHO between 2022 and 2023, funding crucial work on containing diseases such as HIV, polio, Ebola, and the recent outbreak of the lethal Marburg virus.
