US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the US will be withdrawing its membership from the World Health Organization (WHO).
We are terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization, which acts at the behest of China. pic.twitter.com/QmTKmsLSbP
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 29, 2020
NewsMobile explores the entire issue and its significance.
Background
Since the beginning of April, Trump has been critical of the World Health Organization (WHO) for its handling of the COVID-19 situation.
He has accused the Organization of working at the behest of China and helping it cover up its acts of negligence and omissions.
He had threatened to suspend the funding to the global organization.
Early in May, he went ahead and partially cut the funding to the organization and asked it to carry out reforms.
On Friday, he accused the WHO of not carrying out the required reforms and pulled out of its membership.
He further stated that the funding to the WHO too will be redirected towards other organizations working in the field of public health.
What does this mean for the WHO?
Firstly, the US is the largest donor to the WHO. With around USD 450 million, they are far ahead of China that contributes around USD 40 million.
Also Read: Trump threatens to cut off permanent funding for WHO, reconsider US membership
This will hamper the activities being carried out by WHO, especially during times of COVID-19.
Secondly, US also provides technical expertise and this may also be suspended as a fallout of US pulling out of the international health body.
Lastly, it will completely alter the dynamics of International Relations with one of the big powers pulling out of an world organisation. It will be forced to deal with the void that is created.
Has Trump pulled out of any other International Organization?
After becoming the President of the US, Trump has pulled out of the some of the important international organisations such as UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and the UN Human Rights Council.
He also completely altered the Iranian nuclear deal and pulled out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
These activities have caused a great amount of stress in the international community and have threatened to increase tensions in the global order.