GENEVA, Feb 3 (Reuters) – The World Health Organization is appealing for $1 billion for health emergencies this year, down by a third from last year, as donor funding falls and amid doubts about contributions from its former top donor, the United States.
“We’re focusing on those most in need, where we can save the most lives,” Executive Director Chikwe Ihekweazu told a Geneva briefing on Tuesday, saying the funding would go to 36 emergencies, including Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine.
“We are deeply worried about the vast needs and how we will meet them,” he added.
Ihekweazu denied that the WHO would fully withdraw from any crisis. “What we have done is, in each of those contexts, is we’ve maybe not done as much as we would like to do,” he told reporters.
The U.S. officially left the WHO on January 22, faulting the global health agency for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO has vigorously defended its record.
In the past, the U.S. has been a major contributor to both the WHO’s emergency appeal, which relies on voluntary donations, and its wider budget based partly on mandatory member fees.
Ihekweazu said last year Washington was not a major donor to the emergency appeal, naming top contributors as the European Union, Saudi Arabia and Germany.
(Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Thomas Seythal)
