The World Health Organization has been considering the creation of a large endowment to support its public health-focused mission, according to the United Nations agency’s chief.
While the idea is still at an “early stage,” $50 billion would be the Geneva-based organization’s target, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a Feb. 12 news conference, held amid the U.S.’s announced withdrawal from the organization.
The endowment would also generate $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion annually, and serve as an additional resource for WHO to generate revenue. The funds would be used to help countries meet their sustainable development goals, such as promoting good health and well-being.
Information on what investment strategy would be used and who would run the endowment were not provided during the conference.
Since 2018, WHO has sought to expand its means of sustainable financing, in case one of its traditional donors withdraws for any reason and the organization isn’t able to “absorb the shock,” Tedros noted.
Among the solutions to increase revenue have included raising membership fees for all 194 members of WHO, starting a voluntary investment round with member states and foundations — such as the $6.4 billion Rockefeller Foundation — and offering services for institutions and individuals so they may identify and recoup costs spent on operations.
In 2020, in order to tap into the private sector, the organization also established the WHO Foundation as an independent grantmaking entity. One institution that has invested in the foundation has been the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which most recently committed $42 million in October. The $74.7 billion foundation has since been renamed the Gates Foundation as of January.
Tedros noted that there are similar organizations that have endowments, including the London-based Wellcome Trust. The charitable foundation — which has the mission of improving global health — has £37.6 billion ($50.3 billion) in assets, according to its 2024 annual report for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
Aside from The Gates Foundation, endowments that have grown above $50 billion include Harvard University, which had $53.2 billion assets at the end of its most recent fiscal year, and the $60.6 billion Lilly Endowment.
Upon starting his second term on Jan. 20, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that initiated plans to withdraw from WHO.
During the 2022-2023 biennium, the U.S. was the largest donor to WHO’s revenue, providing $1.3 billion, according to the organization’s website. The other top contributors were Germany, which provided $856 million, followed by The Gates Foundation’s $830 million.
While the U.N. charter, which serves as WHO’s constitution, does not have a withdrawal clause, the U.S. reserved the right to withdraw itself when it joined in 1946, and received the approval to do so from other members at the time. No other member has reserved the right to withdraw, and what will happen as a result of Trump’s action from a legal perspective “is not straightforward,” noted Steven Solomon, WHO’s principal legal officer, in the Feb. 12 news conference.
However, Tedros said he wanted to emphasize that the endowment “is just an idea that hopefully will be realized, but we haven’t started to get into action.” He noted WHO depends more on the four solutions he noted that are currently in place.
“This is an idea that we’re putting together,” said Tedros, adding WHO staffers will “try to understand how we can make it happen and hope our member states and other partners will help us realize it.”
But if WHO had an endowment, Tedros said “that definitely will help us in getting more quality resources that can empower WHO and help countries based on their priorities.”
