The former President of Switzerland has warned that Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Paris Climate Agreement could severely impact Geneva. The US president’s executive order is expected to force international organisations to seek funding from other countries and private individuals.
As part of his widespread and highly controversial list of executive orders, returning US President Donald Trump announced that he wanted to take the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement and the WHO. In the past, Trump has accused the WHO of being “corrupt” and questioned the efficacy of the international institution.
Founded in Geneva in the wake of the Second World War, the WHO was set up to promote good healthcare worldwide and act collectively to contain outbreaks and reduce infectious diseases. Its biggest achievements include the eradication of smallpox and the successful measures to combat the Ebola outbreak in the 2010s.
However, the WHO is perhaps best known among the public for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the organisation successfully lobbied China to release the disease's genetic sequence - instrumental in creating the vaccine - and has called for the country to be more transparent about where the disease came from, Trump accused the WHO of being corrupt, dragging its heels over its COVID response, and ripping off the United States.
When asked whether he appreciated what the WHO did during the pandemic, he said “I do, but not when you’re being ripped off like we are.” Provided the US Congress caves to Trump’s executive order, the US is set to withdraw from the WHO in the next year. If the US withdraws entirely, the WHO will be given around 500 million US dollars less a year.
Speaking to RTS, University of Geneva expert and former Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey said that Trump’s penchant for withdrawing from global institutions gives Geneva a “cause for concern.” “[It’s] worrying [because] the foreign policy of the United States is focused on their well-being [alone]. This is the opposite of what international cooperation is."
"We don't know to what extent [Donald Trump] will cut contributions…But it will have an impact on the economic life of the region," she noted - the US alone accounts for 26 percent of funding for international organisations in Geneva. She noted that 33.000 jobs in the city itself, Canton Vaud and neighbouring France rely on these institutions.
Therefore, Calmy-Rey predicted that organisations like the WHO and others will “probably” have to make cutbacks or rely on other sources of funding, namely other member states and “private foundations.” She noted that Trump’s decision is a reminder that international institutions of all types cannot rely on one country for their direction and funding.
She added that the move also represents an opportunity to reform the WHO and other organisations which have a “strong Western imprint.” Along with incorporating emerging and non-western powers like Brazil and India, she said that these organisations must address the accusation of “double standards” when applying international law - all the more prescient given the international community's scattershot responses to the war in Ukraine, multiple conflicts in the Middle East and the civil war in Sudan.
"There are certain criticisms which are legitimate and which will have to be responded to… [but] I have confidence in the survival of international organisations." “States alone” cannot solve the world’s problems as “risks cross borders,” Calmy-Rey concluded.
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