World Health Organization (WHO)

Overview

MOPAN's most recent assessment of the World Health Organization (WHO) reviews organisational performance and capabilities against the commitments set out in WHO’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13) and its Transformation Agenda. As WHO looks to a new phase with the adoption of the GPW14, many of the commitments captured therein will support WHO on its transformation going forward. It will be important for WHO’s stakeholders to lend the necessary support to the organisation to ensure the consistency of direction and continuation of its further transformation.

The assessment period (2019-23) was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented WHO with its greatest-ever challenges, while also helping reinforce its role as the leading global health institution. It afforded WHO an opportunity to demonstrate its speed and agility in responding to an unprecedented global crisis and to invest more energy into its partnerships and global health diplomacy, build new co-ordination and funding mechanisms and strengthen its capacity-building support for developing country members.

The World Health Organization (WHO) was created in 1948 as a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) within the terms of Article 57 of the UN Charter. Its constitution commits it to a set of core principles: everyone should enjoy the highest standard of health as a fundamental human right regardless of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition, and that health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.

According to WHO’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13) – a strategy paper setting out strategic direction for 2019-23 and now extended to 2025 – WHO’s mission is to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.

Performance rating summary

WHO organisational performance wheel 2024 — Organisational performance

Key findings

WHO continues to demonstrate clear leadership among global health institutions.
WHO can demonstrate agility and responsiveness in emergency situations including in the face of global challenges such as COVID-19.
WHO has continued to maintain a process of transformation across multiple areas.
WHO demonstrates its commitment to transparency of reporting, budgeting and resource allocation.
WHO has significantly strengthened its infrastructure and capacity to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct, underpinned by dedicated and clear leadership.

WHO needs to better demonstrate how its activities and outputs make a plausible contribution to the health outcomes it seeks to achieve.
WHO’s reforms to build high performance capacity at country level need to be accelerated.
Planned reforms to WHO’s funding model need to be carried through so that more than 50% of funding is in the form of assessed contributions.
WHO needs to strengthen its evaluation function in line with its own and UN norms to further improve both accountability and corporate learning.
WHO needs to maintain the attention paid to address sexual misconduct and abuse so that permanent culture change can result.