In total, 80% of WHO's overall budget came from governments.
The largest funder to WHO is the US Government.
And the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the second largest.
The US Government Funding is a mix of assessed a voluntary contributions,
while the Gates funding is solely voluntary.
Let's take a moment to review what we've learned so far.
There are several challenges regarding the WHO budget.
First, many believe that the budget is too low to cover the WHO's
vast global responsibility.
Adding to this challenge is the fact that the assess contribution formula has not
changed in a number of years.
Therefore, the formula has not kept pace with inflation, nor
does it reflect economies that have grown.
Another challenge is that voluntary contributions can distort
the funding structure of the organization.
For example, if a philanthropy wants to fund a program, it can do so
regardless of whether that program is a priority of WHO's leadership.
A final challenge is that non-member states have been contributing
an increasing larger portion of WHO's budget, yet they have no responsibility in
the governance of the WHO, as that role is limited to members states.
So there's a growing difference between a list of member states vs
the list of donors.
Non-member donors don't have ownership or
oversight of how the organization is structured or organized, so
their financial constitutions may not be as effective.
In response to these challenges,
WHO Director General Margaret Chan held a meeting in 2010 to discuss WHO's
financing situation which lead to the creation of the WHO financing dialog.
The purpose of this effort is to have a collaborative discussion on
the organization's budget and resource mobilization efforts, and
ensure transparency and predictability on the budget.
What is unique about this meeting when compared to the challenges we just
discussed is that in addition to member states being invited, non governmental
donors who have contributed at least $1 million to WHO are also included.
In summary, I believe that WHO's role is essential to address long term
health issues as well as respond to outbreaks and emergencies.
And funding the WHO at an effective level remains an ongoing challenge that we
must continue to grapple with.