The World Health Organization (WHO) will cut 1,282 employees due to budget cuts. This was announced by Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressing hope for the support of WTO member states in finding funds to cover the $1 billion deficit in 2026-2027.
During the briefing organized for the representatives of the WTO member states, Gebreyesus noted that the reorganization process caused by the adoption of the reduced budget for 2026-2027 is "almost finished" and "the last step remains" related to the redistribution of positions.
"Throughout this process, our goal has been to maintain the organization's core functions and align our financial and human resources with those functions, while minimizing layoffs as much as possible," he said, adding:
"If we hadn't taken this approach, we estimate we would have had to cut approximately 2,900 jobs worldwide." Instead, we "were able to reduce the number of layoffs to 1,282."
