U.S. says it will not pay what it owes WHO this year
WASHINGTON, (ST)_ The United States will not pay some $80 million it owes the World Health Organization (WHO) and will instead redirect the money to help pay its United Nations bill in New York, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
The United States plans to leave the Geneva-based WHO on July 6, 2021.
Lawrence Gostin, a university professor at Georgetown Law in Washington, D.C., said in a tweet that redirecting WHO funds is “unethical…and patently unlawful”. The United States had to meet all financial obligations, he said, adding: “Trump is acting unilaterally, w/o (without) Congress & in violation of the law”.
Under a 1948 joint resolution of the U.S. Congress, Trump had to give one-year notice of the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO and is required to pay what Washington’s owes for the organization’s current fiscal year.
Source: Agencies