Is that how this is supposed to work?

This international health organization asks permission from the wealthy farmer before it makes any big decisions.

Is that how this is supposed to work?

World Health Organization

Bill Gates

‘Big concerns’ over Gates foundation’s potential to become largest WHO donor

SAN FRANCISCO — If the United States government withdraws from the World Health Organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is poised to become the agency’s top donor. The potential of this change is raising questions about what such influence from a single private foundation could mean.

WHO’s list of top 20 donors for the two-year budget cycle of 2018 and 2019 reveals that the U.S. provided the agency with $893 million, accounting for 20% of WHO’s budget, whereas the Gates foundation contributed $531 million, or 12% of WHO’s budget.

The Gates foundation accounts for 45% of WHO’s funding from nongovernmental entities, according to figures provided to Devex from WHO. That pool of donors may expand and diversify with the recent launch of the WHO Foundation. But even as WHO ramps up fundraising from nongovernmental entities, support from its member states remains crucial because of the dollars they provide — and because they are accountable to their citizens, experts tell Devex.

“If a private foundation were to become WHO’s highest donor, it would be transformational,” Lawrence Gostin, faculty director for the O’Neill Institute at Georgetown University and director of WHO’s Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, told Devex via email.

When WHO was formed as an intergovernmental organization, it “would have been unimaginable” that a private foundation could have such influence, he continued.

“It would enable a single rich philanthropist to set the global health agenda,” Gostin said, referring to Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation.

Gates cannot formally set WHO’s agenda in the same way that member states are able to, but if the billionaire behind the foundation called the WHO director-general, he “would likely be on the next plane to Seattle,” he said, referencing the foundation’s headquarters.

“The big concerns are that the Gates Foundation isn’t fully transparent and accountable,” Gostin said. “By wielding such influence, it could steer WHO priorities.” – Source