Last month, Devex reported on the United Nations’ spending in 2020 and found that the World Health Organization — which was pushed into the spotlight last year — saw the largest increase in procurement spending among U.N. agencies.
Based on the 2020 annual statistics report, WHO’s spending increased by 92.3% compared to 2019 — with $1.7 billion in total spending. This was largely driven by pandemic response-related procurement amounting to $750 million, or 43.7% of WHO’s total procurement in 2020. Over half of that funding went to medical equipment and 29% went to laboratory and testing equipment, of which $42 million went to the purchase of rapid test kits.
In 2020, the agency spent $1.4 billion on major procurement contracts, each worth $30,000 or more. It sourced 53.4% of its total procurement spending from low- and middle-income countries, and countries with economies in transition.