The United States plans to reprogram the remaining USD 62 million of the World Health Organizations total annual assessment dues for the Fiscal Year 2020, State Department official Nerissa Cook said during a briefing on the U.S. Governments Next Steps with Regard to Withdrawal from WHO on Wednesday ( September 2, 2020). "Today, we are announcing the remaining portion of the 2020 assessment, slightly more than USD 62 million, will be reprogrammed to the UN to pay other assessments", the statement reads.
The official also said that the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has already been informed about this.
Earlier, in May the U.S. announced its withdrawal from WHO after claiming the body helped China conceal information about the origins of COVID-19.
Nerissa Cook while discussing the status of U.S. assessed contributions to the WHO said that out of USD 120 million of the 2020 assessment, USD 58 million has already been contributed at the time of President Donald Trump's April decision to suspend additional funding.
This move will finalize the U.S. Governments withdrawal from the body. The announcement to terminate the WHO membership came after the POTUS asked WHO to prove its independence from the Chinese Communist Party in light of the mismanaging of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, WHO has said that it's January 30 emergency declaration gave the United States sufficient time to prepare while China has denied all allegations and claimed that the details of the virus's origins were informed timely.
The United States submitted its notice of withdrawal from the WHO, effective on July 6, 2021, to the U.N. secretary-general on July 6th this year.
