The commitments mark a key milestone in WHO’s ongoing Investment Round, a critical drive to secure sustainable financing and strengthen the organisation’s capacity to respond to global health needs.
The decline in support follows the suspension of US assistance, which previously accounted for nearly half of the international funding directed toward Afghanistan’s healthcare.
The report says that the COVID-19 pandemic is a profound global example of the inequitable health outcomes driven by upstream social determinants. From its outset, socio-economic inequality was a predictor of higher mortality.
The text affirms national sovereignty in public health decisions. It states explicitly that nothing in the agreement gives WHO the authority to mandate health measures such as lockdowns, vaccination campaigns, or border closures.
Nearly half of PM2.5 pollution in the worst-affected countries comes from the burning of fossil fuels, biomass, and agricultural waste – also major contributors to climate change. As extreme weather events worsen due to climate change, air pollution is expected to become an even greater threat, UNICEF warned.
UN agencies responded on Tuesday to President Trump’s executive orders ending US membership of the World Health Organization and its adherence to the Paris Climate Agreement, highlighting the massive potential negative impact on public health and efforts to curb global warming.
The UN appeal comes at a moment when humanitarian funding is already stretched by multiple crises. While CERF has provided rapid support, broader donor commitments remain insufficient relative to the scale of projected need.
South Asia’s lead crisis is not inevitable. Experience elsewhere demonstrates that decisive regulation, industrial formalisation and community-level interventions can sharply reduce exposure.
The UN appeal comes at a moment when humanitarian funding is already stretched by multiple crises. While CERF has provided rapid support, broader donor commitments remain insufficient relative to the scale of projected need.