WHO official says earmarked funding risks 'paralyzing' agency

Only 8% of the World Health Organization’s funding for its global COVID-19 response is flexible — down from 30% last year — while the rest has been earmarked, according to an agency official. In terms of the money received, the pandemic response also has a 70% funding shortfall. “This underfunding and earmarking of funds risks paralyzing WHO’s ability to provide rapid and flexible support to countries and is already having consequences for current operations,” said Mike Ryan, executive director at the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, during the 74th World Health Assembly on Tuesday. WHO launched the COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan for 2021 in February, requesting $1.96 billion. To date, the agency has only received $587 million, with another $466 million pledged from donors. Last year, WHO asked for $1.7 billion and received $1.5 billion, Ryan said. This funding shortfall has left WHO in “real and imminent danger of being unable to sustain core functions for urgent priorities,” Ryan said. “WHO has been given new tasks without sufficient authority or resourcing to undertake them fully. It can’t do everything.” --— Helen Clark, co-chair, Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response During the World Health Assembly, many member countries echoed the call to provide flexible financing for WHO to carry out its work. But only four donors — Germany, the U.S.-based National Philanthropic Trust, Portugal, and Spain — have contributed fully flexible funds to WHO’s COVID-19 appeal, with Germany providing $35.8 million of the overall $45 million in contributions that the agency received from those four donors, according to a WHO spokesperson. Ryan said that inflexibility hampers the agency’s ability to respond quickly to health emergencies. Over the past year, WHO has played a role in coordinating national and global pandemic responses by providing countries with technical support; developing surveillance systems; assessing the quality, safety, and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines; developing the Solidarity Trial to find an effective treatment for COVID-19; co-leading the COVAX Facility, aimed at equitable vaccine access globally; and disseminating information on the pandemic to combat falsehoods, among other efforts. “The way that WHO is financed today has serious impacts on the quality of the organization’s performance. Its precarious financing is a major risk to the integrity and independence of its work. Incremental attempts in recent decades to improve the present funding model have not been successful," according to a recently released report from the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. The report called for the financial independence of WHO through contributions of unearmarked funds, with an increase in member state fees to two-thirds of the agency's base program budget. Last year, WHO launched a foundation in an effort to draw in more flexible, predictable funding. During the World Health Assembly, Dr. Felicity Harvey, chair of the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee for the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, encouraged member states to review whether WHO’s funding is adequate for the agency to lead responses to multidimensional and large-scale emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the increasing number of emergencies it routinely manages. These funding shortages come at a time when expectations of WHO have increased “hugely” in recent years, as has the scope of the organization’s work in acute outbreaks and humanitarian crises, Harvey said. “For many years, WHO has been given new tasks without sufficient authority or resourcing to undertake them fully. It can’t do everything,” said Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand and co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.