China pledges $500M to World Health Organization over next 5 years

GENEVA

China has pledged $500 million in financial support to the World Health Organization (WHO) over the next five years, the Chinese mission to the UN in Geneva said Tuesday in a statement shared with Anadolu.

The funding for the UN agency will include "an increase in the assessed contribution, a certain amount of voluntary contribution and projects support through the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund," the mission said.

"China always supports the WHO in fulfilling its duties, deepens international public health cooperation, and strengthens global health governance," the statement added.

It also emphasized that China supports the WHO "in playing a leading and coordinating role in global health governance."

The exact use of the pledged funds "will be agreed upon by both sides," the mission said, adding that China is "looking forward to working with the WHO to further explore cooperation mechanism to improve the efficiency of the use of the financial support."

The announcement comes at a time when the WHO is facing funding challenges following the US decision to withdraw from the organization and reduce financial contributions – making this a notable development in the agency's financing landscape.