Revision summary
WHO is a UN specialised agency (1948) headquartered in Geneva. The World Health Assembly of Member States is supreme; a 34-member Executive Board prepares its work. The Director-General heads the Secretariat; six regions include SEARO in New Delhi. Funding mixes assessed UN-scale dues with a larger share of voluntary, often earmarked, contributions. COVID-19 underlined both WHO’s coordinating role and the weakness of donor-tied finance.
Model answer
Introduction
The World Health Organization is a United Nations specialised agency (1948) with headquarters in Geneva. Structure means the Assembly, Board, Director-General, and six regions; funding means the mix of assessed and voluntary money.
Body
Organisational structure
- The World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body; all Member States sit in it, normally each May, to set policy, approve the programme budget, and appoint the Director-General.
- The Executive Board has thirty-four technically qualified members elected by the Assembly for three-year terms; it prepares the Assembly’s work and gives effect to its decisions.
- The Director-General is the chief technical and administrative officer, heading the Secretariat in Geneva and accountable to the Assembly.
- Six regional offices carry a large share of operational work: Africa (Brazzaville), the Americas (Washington, PAHO), South-East Asia (New Delhi), Europe (Copenhagen), Eastern Mediterranean (Cairo), and the Western Pacific (Manila).
- India is a member of the South-East Asia Region; SEARO in New Delhi is the regional layer most relevant to Indian health diplomacy.
Funding
- Assessed contributions are membership dues calculated on a United Nations scale of assessment; they are relatively predictable but a shrinking share of the total budget.
- Voluntary contributions from Member States, philanthropic foundations, and other partners now dominate, often earmarked for specific diseases or emergencies, which can pull WHO toward donor priorities.
- COVID-19 showed both the value of WHO coordination under the International Health Regulations, 2005, and the risk of earmarked voluntary cash.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD WHA[World Health Assembly] --> EB[Executive Board] WHA --> DG[Director-General Secretariat] DG --> R[Six regional offices] R --> C[Country offices] AC[Assessed contributions] --> DG VC[Voluntary earmarked funds] --> DG
Conclusion
WHO is an Assembly-and-Board agency with a Director-General, six regions including SEARO in New Delhi, and country offices. It is funded by a small assessed core and a large voluntary, often earmarked, remainder, which is why financing reform is now part of any serious description of the organisation.
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Discuss India's regional policy towards South-East Asia.
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Is WHO a part of the UN Secretariat in New York?
No. It is a specialised agency with its own Assembly, budget, and headquarters in Geneva, linked to the UN system but legally distinct.
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Why do critics say WHO is donor-driven?
Because voluntary earmarked funds now outweigh flexible assessed dues, so programme attention can follow the cheque rather than the Assembly’s unfunded priorities.
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2020 · Q20 · UPGS2 · 12 marks
Discuss the role of the World Health Organisation (W.H.O.) in the period of Corona (Covid-19).
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