The World Health Organization (WHO) has decided to reduce its staff by 1,282 people due to a budget deficit for 2026–2027. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the funding shortfall will amount to approximately 1 billion dollars during this period.
Ghebreyesus noted that the reorganization process, prompted by the approval of the new budget, is nearly complete, and is currently in its final stage — the redistribution of personnel.
“We aim to preserve the core functions of our organization and adapt our human and financial resources to new priorities, while trying to minimize the number of layoffs,” he added. According to him, without the measures taken, WHO would have had to part ways with 2,900 employees worldwide.
During the restructuring, the number of layoffs was reduced to 1,282 due to two main factors:
1,089 employees left the organization voluntarily — due to retirement, contract expirations, or moving to other jobs;
about 600 positions were preserved thanks to increased contributions from some member states.
The Director-General expressed hope for continued financial support from countries to cover the deficit for 2026–2027.
It is worth noting that in May 2025, WHO member states approved a reduced budget for two years amounting to 4.2 billion dollars, which is 21% lower than the initially proposed amount. This revision was a result of the decision by the United States, one of the largest donors, to leave the organization.
According to official data, the United States will exit WHO in 2026. Earlier, on February 3, 2025, Washington suspended the activities of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which provided a significant portion of funding for international organizations, including WHO.
