Geneva Health Files

Geneva Health Files

WHO To Shed 600 Jobs At HQ; Early Projections Show Berlin Wins From Proposed Relocation of Key Technical Functions

Newsletter Edition #295 [The Files Brief]

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Priti Patnaik
Aug 25, 2025
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Hi,

We bring you a quick update on a recent announcement made last week to cut down 600 jobs at WHO in Geneva heading into 2026-2027. In this edition we also discuss, the organization’s relocation plans as presented to member states.

See below, an announcement for a workshop we are conducting later this week on the new Pandemic Treaty, presented from a reporter’s perspective: what we saw, heard and observed while covering these negotiations. Sign up here.

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Priti

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Illustration Credit: Amy Clarke, Chembe Collaborative

I. HOT OFF THE PRESS

WHO To Shed 600 Jobs At HQ; Early Projections Show Berlin Wins From Proposed Relocation of Key Technical Functions

  • Update on downsizing at WHO Head Quarters

  • Proposed relocation of key technical functions to Berlin, Dubai, Lyon, Jamnagar

  • Reorienting activities of Science Division and WHO Emergencies Programme


In an update sent last week, WHO DG Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told staff in an email, that the organization is moving to shed 600 jobs at its headquarters in Geneva, in line with a 21% reduction in its base budget for the 2026-2027 biennium to US $4.2 billion (WHO budget cycle runs every two years. The base budget represents the core mandate of WHO and the largest part of the budget.)

Image Credit: Photo by Kei Scampa, Pexels
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