US formally announces withdrawal from WHO
GENEVA, July 9, 2020
The US has formally notified its withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Secretary-General Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, has said.
The withdrawal was announced earlier by US President Donald Trump following a row over WHO's Covid-19 actions.
"The United States of America notified the Secretary-General, in his capacity as depositary of the 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organisation, of its withdrawal from the WHO, effective on 6th July 2021," Dujarric said in a statement.
He added that the US is a party to the World Health Organisation Constitution since 21st June, 1948. The United States’ participation in the World Health Organisation was accepted by the World Health Assembly with certain conditions set out by the US for its eventual withdrawal from the WHO.
"The said conditions include giving a one-year notice and fully meeting the payment of assessed financial obligations," the spokesman noted.
"The Secretary-General, in his capacity as depositary, is in the process of verifying with the World Health Organisation whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met," he concluded.
