WHO rolls out early retirement to slash costs ahead of planned US exit
UN's World Health Organization (WHO) boxes wait to be loaded into a UAE plane headed to Egypt's El-Arish airport on Jan 24, 2025 at an airport in Dubai. (File photo: AFP/Fadel Senna)
The World Health Organization is offering the option of voluntary early retirement to eligible employees as it seeks to cut costs following US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the agency.
It is offering a voluntary early retirement package to staffers working at all duty stations, according to a WHO statement.
Bloomberg News, which first reported the development, had said the WHO had offered early retirement along with four months' pay to staffers who will be 55 or older by June and that those who accept would have to leave the agency by Jul 15.
Trump started a 12-month withdrawal process for the US to leave the WHO in January.
The agency initiated cost-saving measures, including cutting travel expenditure and halting recruitment, after the US moved to withdraw.
The United States is the WHO's biggest government donor, contributing around 18 per cent of its overall funding.
