New sustainable financing model
Following the re-election of Dr Tedros Adhanhom Ghebreysus as WHO Director-General, delegates at the World Health Assembly agreed a landmark decision on sustainable financing for WHO, adopting a series of recommendations from a Sustainable Financing Working Group made up of WHO Member States.
The recommendations aim to make WHO’s funding more predictable and flexible, and less dependent on voluntary contributions. Amongst the recommendations is a request to the Secretariat to develop budget proposals for an increase in assessed contributions (membership dues) to 50% of WHO’s core budget by 2030. In the last budget cycle, assessed contributions made up only 16% of the approved Programme Budget.
Other recommendations include that the Secretariat explores the feasibility of a replenishment mechanism to further broaden WHO's financing base and the establishment of a Member States task group on strengthening WHO budgetary, programmatic and financing governance to analyze challenges in governance for transparency, efficiency, accountability and compliance.
Related links
Sustainable financing of WHO: report of the Working Group (Document A75/9)
Working toward a sustainably financed WHO
Programme Budget revision approved
Delegates had previously approved a revised Programme Budget for WHO for the work of the biennium 2022-2023. The revision approved today reflects the rapidly changing health situation of the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, amongst other issues. The revised Programme Budget incorporates learnings and recommendations from a number of internal and external reviews, notably on the Secretariat’s response to COVID-19.
The total estimated budget increase for the biennium 2022–2023 is US$ 604.4 million (a 13% increase over the earlier budget presented), bringing the total budget for WHO’s work for 2022-2023 to US$ 4.968 billion. The previously approved 2020-2021 Programme Budget amounted to US$ 3.769 billion).
Delegates also agreed to extend the current Global Programme of Work to 2025, in light of the findings contained in WHO’s Results Framework as well as the report presented by the Secretariat on operational efficiencies. The extension is designed to help WHO support countries’ efforts to address disruptions to health services linked to the pandemic, recover from the pandemic and renew efforts to achieve the triple billion and Sustainable Development Goal targets .
This extension brings alignment between WHO’s strategic planning cycle and that of the wider United Nations family.
Related links
Proposed revision to the Programme Budget 2022–2023 (Document A75/6)
WHO Programme Budget web portal
Working group on international health regulations (IHR) amendments
Delegates welcomed the final report of the Working Group on strengthening WHO preparedness and response to health emergencies which, among other things, proposed a process for taking forward potential amendments to the IHR (2005). They agreed to continue the group, with a revised mandate and name (the “Working Group on IHR amendments” (WGIHR)) to work exclusively on consideration of proposed IHR amendments. Member States also requested the Director-General to convene an IHR Review Committee to make technical recommendations on the proposed amendments that may be submitted. The Working Group will propose a package of targeted amendments for consideration by the Seventy-seventh Health Assembly.