Headlines
Donors pledge over $170 million to WHO ahead of US exit
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 20, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 20, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Countries pledged $170M to WHO amid US withdrawal. China, Qatar, and others contribute to stabilize global health funding.
By Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) -China, Qatar, Switzerland and others pledged over $170 million for the World Health Organization at its assembly on Tuesday, the agency said, and countries also accepted higher fees to help offset the expected loss of the U.S., the top donor.
"In a challenging climate for global health, these funds will help us to preserve and extend our life-saving work," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said in a statement on new donations covering 2025-2028.
A WHO list showed that host Switzerland gave $40 million; Sweden gave $13.5 million; Angola gave $8 million; Qatar gave $6 million; while other pledges came from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and ELMA Philanthropies.
It did not include an earlier $500 million pledge from China since the WHO said calculations are ongoing.
"These efforts deliver a strong signal of China's support to WHO during this reform process," said Dr. Lei Haichao, China's health minister. A spokesperson for China's diplomatic mission said this pledge included both mandatory fees and voluntary donations and support for other projects.
Even before the current financial crisis, the WHO had been seeking to overhaul its funding model to make it less dependent on donations from a few big economies. Washington had provided 18% of its funding.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has criticized the body for its handling of COVID-19, announced his intention to withdraw on Day One of his presidency on January 20 - a move that takes a year to implement. On Tuesday, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the organization as "moribund".
The WHO has already revised down its 2026-2027 budget by a fifth to $4.2 billion and cut management posts.
The new budget, formally adopted on Tuesday by the assembly which is seeking to address the funding crisis, will increase countries' mandatory fees by 20% over the next two years and make China the new top state donor.
"Our common goal must be to initiate prompt reforms to safeguard the organisation," said Björn Kümmel, head of Unit Global Health in Germany's health ministry.
(Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by Franklin Paul and David Gregorio)
Countries pledged over $170 million for the World Health Organization during its assembly.
China's pledge is seen as a strong signal of support for the WHO during its reform process.
The WHO is seeking to overhaul its funding model to reduce dependence on a few big economies and has increased mandatory fees by 20%.
The US withdrawal, announced by President Trump, has raised concerns about the funding and operational capabilities of the WHO.
The WHO has revised its 2026-2027 budget down by a fifth to $4.2 billion and has cut management positions.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
