In preparation for the 65th World Health Assembly, held in Geneva from 21 May 2012 to 26 May 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) prepared a document (A65/29 Add. 1 [1], 5 April 2012) entitled “Voluntary contributions by fund and by donor for the financial period 2010-2011. Voluntary funding (US$ 2,899 billion), most of which is ear-marked to specific programs by donors, constituted 75% of WHO’s program budget in 2010-2011 while core assessments (US$ 945 million) from WHO member states constituted 25% of WHO’s program budget in the same period, (Source WHO, Financial Report and Audited Financial Statements for the period, 1 January 2012 – 31 December 2011). The total contributions for the program budget in 2010-2011 were $US 3.844 billion. This document on voluntary contributions provides insight into understanding the politics and power dynamics of the Organization in the context of WHO discussions of reform, specifically in ensuring that WHO financing is predictable and sustainable.
WHO document A65/29 Add. 1 disaggregates all voluntary contributions to WHO by individual donor including Member States and private donors noting that
[v]oluntary contributions – core include two types of income: funds received to support the Programme budget as a whole, considered fully or highly flexible; and funds that are earmarked for purposes within the Programme budget, considered designated, or medium flexible. Fully flexible funds and highly flexible funds, earmarked only at the level of the strategic objective, are recorded in the core voluntary contributions account. Designated funds, earmarked at the level of Organization-wide expected result, disease, or programme, are not as tightly specified for detailed activity or expenditure line reporting as voluntary contributions – specified, yet are still earmarked rather than highly flexible so are categorized as voluntary contributions – core.
The total amount of ‘specified’ voluntary contributions for the period of 2010 to 2011 was $2,447,889,602. This includes contributions to the WHO, UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme of Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), the Stop TB Partnership and the UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Programme on Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction. The Total General Fund (in 2010-2011) for WHO, which includes specified voluntary contributions, ‘core’ voluntary contributions and other voluntary contributions was $2,898,612,838. In addition to the General Fund, donors also provided a total of $173,930,425 to the Fiduciary Fund. The contributions to the Fiduciary Fund financed a number of WHO initiatives including the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the Stop TB Partnership Global Drug Facility, the Health Metrics Network, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and the Standing Committee on Nutrition.
According to the WHO Financial Report,
[t]ravel constituted 7% of WHO expenses, being US$ 295 million in 2010-2011 for the Programme budget. Within this amount, approximately 48% related to staff travel and 52% for the travel costs of participants in meetings, and advisors (delegates of Member States and non-Secretariat personnel). Travel expenses include airfare, per diem and other travel-related costs, This does no include statutory travel for home leave and education, which is within staff costs.
It may be of interest to readers to know the following source of contributions to WHO General Fund and the size of their respective donations to get a glimpse of the diversity of donors. The link for the WHO voluntary contributions document for 2010-2011 is: http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA65/A65_29Add1-en.pdf
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: $446,161,801
United States of America: $438,285,683
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: $288,952,392
Canada: $154,147,294
Rotary International: $116,565,898
Norway: $113,889,562
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): $109,890,218
The Global Alliance for Vaccine Immunization (GAVI): $98,832,852
European Commission: $96,556,553
Australia: $91,814,872
United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF): $90,890,419
Japan: $54,151,128
Netherlands: $46,265,979
Spain: $41,700,576
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS): $34,729,053
Sweden: $33, 736,545
Finland: $30,807,522
Germany: $28,734,814
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF): $24,706,829
France: $24,261,535
Saudi Arabia: $21,925,064
Luxembourg: $21,278,683
Belgium: $21,075,433
Pakistan: $20,547,556
International Drug Purchase Facility UNITAID: $19,973,959
Bloomberg Family Foundation: $19,860,000
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS): $17,079,943
Denmark: $15,795,417
World Lung Foundation: $14,846,214
Switzerland: $14,717,738
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA): $14,185,061
Italy: $13,318,064
World Bank: $13,315,508
KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation: $12,989,177
Russian Federation: $11,215,095
Carter Center: $10,300,000
CDC Foundation: $9,769,654
Kobe Group (Hyogo Prefecture Kobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Kobe Steel, LTD.): $9,000,000
Turkey: $8,671,906
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): $7,956,645
Program for Appropriate Technology In Health (PATH): $7,765,123
Korean Foundation for International Healthcare (KFIH)- Dr. Lee Jong-Wook Memorial Fund: $7,202,025
Asian Development Bank: $6,879,026
Republic of Korea: $6,869,768
Global Found to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM): $5,867,783
New Zealand: $5,088,064
Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain: $4,628,499
Sanofi-Aventis: $4,417,959
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA): $4,395,083
Flemish Government, Belgium: $4,066,121
Roll Back Malaria Partnership: $3,961,869
Sanofi Espoir: $3,800,000
Nippon Foundation: $3,776,280
Nepal: $3,687,880
African Development Bank Group: $3,630,796
Islamic Development Bank: $3,520,000
International Development Research Centre: $3,148,103
China: $2,951,149
Brazil: $2,870,871
Eli Lilly and Company Foundation: $2,860,000
Secretariat of the Pacific Community: $2,812,320
Opec Fund for International Development: $2,809,917
Agencia Andaluza de Cooperacion International al Desarrollo (AACID), Spain: $2,617,801
Asia-Europe Foundation: $2,600,000
Global Forum for Health Research (GFHR): $2,387,202
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Division: $1,895,000
Monaco: $1,841,591
Cambodia: $1,720,696
Nigeria: $1,645,553
Lebanon: $1,591,995
Region of Veneto, Italy: $1,588,831
African Union: $1,572,650
Eritrea: $1,544,836
The Atlantic Philanthropies: $1,531,000
Papau New Guinea: $1,517,304
GlaxoSmithKline: $1,303,844
Indonesia: $1,321,716
Bristol-Myers Squibb: $1,200,000
Bayer AG: $1,129,300
Azerbaijan: $1,044,573
Department du Rhone: $1,034,140
Food and Agriculture Organization: $1,004,465
David and Lucile Packard Foundation: $1,000,000
ExxonMobil Foundation: $1,000,000
Novartis: $1,000,000
Lions Clubs International: $987,620
Macao Government Special Administrative Region of China: $865,880
Region of Sicilia, Italy: $848,000
Winds of Hope Foundation: $816,327
Angola: $750,954
Singapore: $769,075
Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDI): $748,280
Syngenta Crop Protection AG: $733,023
Merck: $721,456
National Science Foundation Sri Lanka: $630,063
India: $621,970
Wellcome Trust: $631,030
Uppsala Monitoring Centre: $609,879
Cameroon: $602,780
Universitaets Klinikum Heidelberg: $597,520
Côte d’Ivoire: $594,461
Regione Toscane, Italy: $586,893
Johns Hopkins University: $569,124
South Africa: $543,517
Pfizer: $536,020
International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD): $543,238
Pan American Health Organization: $441,281
John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation: $440,000
Rockefeller Foundation: $420,000
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition: $437,465
Viet Nam: $422,616
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation: $400,000
BASF Corporation: $377,050
Open Society Institute: $374,486
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine: $357,974
Ludwig Maximilians Universtat, Munchen: $357,266
Generalitat Valenciana, Spain: $353,288
University of Antwerp: $350,100
Regione Lombardia, Italy: $340,393
Vestegaard Frandsen A/S: $329,000
Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH): $258,923
Bangladesh: $251,586
Malaysia: $228,831
Conseil General du Rhone: $248,084
Médecins Sans Frontières: $225,980
Carter Consulting Inc.: $222,000
Region Rhone Alpes, France: $220,000
Lao People’s Democratic Republic: $218,859
Thailand: $212,009
Universita Degli Studi di Verona: $206,669
The University of British Columbia: $204,000
University of North Carolina: $188,000
Egypt: $170,000
University of South Carolina: $158,907
London School of Economics and Political Science: $169,332
Pilipinas Shell Foundation: $150,000
Sightsavers International: $150,000
Sri Lanka: $150,000
Hong Kong Government Secretariat: $135,121
Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND): $120,360
Universidad Politecnica de Madrid: $113,847
University of Cape Town: $110,179
Kenya: $100,000
Siemens AG: $100,000
Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ): $75,000
Bolivia: $50,000
Czech Republic: $50,000
Proctor & Gamble S.A.: $50,000
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF): $35,200
Hungary: $20,000
Mexico: $13,300