A government impact assessment said in July<\/a> that the government\u2019s aid cuts meant that in Africa \u2013 where half of the UK\u2019s bilateral aid goes \u2013 spending was being reduced in women\u2019s health and emergency response in countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.<\/p>\nThe assessment warned that \u201creductions to health spending risk an increase in disease burden and ultimately in deaths, impacting in particular those living in poverty, women, children and people with disabilities\u201d.<\/p>\n
It also said that there would be cuts to girls\u2019 education programmes in countries including Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria and to projects encouraging women\u2019s participation in peace processes, with specific conflicts including Ukraine and Sudan supported at a reduced scale.<\/p>\n
Critics warned that scrapping the 80% commitment could compound the impact of the US and UK aid cuts and exacerbate what feels like \u201ca global war on women\u201d.<\/p>\n
Labour has promised to prioritise women and girls in government including by promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights abroad, and tackling gender-based violence. Harriet Harman, the former acting Labour leader, was appointed UK special envoy for women and girls in March 2025.<\/p>\n
Sarah Champion, the Labour chair of the international aid committee, said: \u201cThe UK\u2019s commitments to women and girls are not just words on a page, they\u2019re a lifeline that gives hope to some of the poorest and most vulnerable on the planet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trump administration immediately cut all international maternal and reproductive health support, and just last month, burned contraception it had bought for low-income countries. Now is the time for the UK to step up our commitment to gender programming, not step away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we look at conflicts, climate impact and nutrition it is always women and girls who bear the brunt. Our aid programming gives them hope and opportunities in what feels like a global war on women. We can\u2019t take that away from them now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alex Farley, a policy manager at Bond, the UK network for NGOs, said that \u201cat a time when women\u2019s rights globally are under attack and the US has been gutting all gender equality and diversity programming, it\u2019s definitely very worrying to see the UK following suit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGender equality programming has already been put at disproportionate risk in the government\u2019s cuts to UK aid. Upholding the 80% commitment, alongside stand-alone gender programmes, is really important for the UK to send a signal showing that it\u2019s committed to tackling gender inequality rather than stepping back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amelia Whitworth, head of policy, campaigns and youth at Plan International UK said: \u201cAnti-gender movements are growing, humanitarian and climate crises are intensifying, and girls and women are being hit hardest. In a world where girls\u2019 rights are being rolled back, the UK has to hold the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith USAID<\/a> slashing over 80% of its programmes \u2013 including funding for gender and DEI initiatives \u2013 and European donors retreating, the need for the UK to uphold its gender equality commitments has never been greater.\u201d<\/p>\nAn FCDO spokesperson confirmed that the government was \u201ccarefully reviewing the viability of existing commitments\u201d after cutting aid spending to 0.3%.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the foreign secretary has said, women and girls are a fundamental priority,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cFrom appointing a dedicated special envoy for women and girls to improving energy access for 15 million women worldwide, the UK has demonstrated how integrating gender equality into its international work can transform lives. We will continue to champion the rights of women and girls globally and ensure that gender equality is embedded across all the department\u2019s priorities.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ministers are considering scrapping a commitment to spend 80% of foreign aid on projects supporting gender equality, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-341882","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115023009779420629","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}