The who Foundation and the Law of International Organizations: Towards Better Funding for Global Health?

The article explores the creation of the who Foundation, an independent legal entity aiming at the mobilisation of flexible funds for who’s budget. This development provides the basis for a more general reflection on the importance of funding issues for the study of international organizations (ios) from an international legal perspective. A comparison reveals that, in some crucial aspects, the who Foundation differs from other non-traditional mechanisms of funding of and alongside ios. These peculiarities render questions as to its impact on the legitimacy of the who all the more pertinent. On the one hand, the innovative funding model has the potential to re-strengthen multilateral decision-making and to allow the who to better deliver on its mandate in attaining global health. On the other hand, it might loosen the ties between the who and its member states and substantially reduce the transparency of the funding process.