The scale of UK cuts to foreign aid means virtually all projects currently being funded in developing countries will be affected. But the cuts are tipped to fall particularly heavily on projects specifically for women and girls.
“The depth of the cuts means that there will definitely be cuts for nearly every programme,” said Ian Mitchell, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s slashing of international aid from 0.5 to 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI).
More detail will be set out in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)’s annual report, expected before Parliament goes on its summer recess on 22 July.
So what could be at risk?
Contraception for 2.6 million women
Among the programmes that could be at risk is the UK-funded Women’s Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) initiative, which provides sexual and reproductive health services across 12 countries in West and Central Africa. The programme has reached 2.6 million people - mostly women in rural communities with no other options.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, where fewer than 15 per cent of women use contraception, the WISH initiative has introduced access to family planning options and information, for some women for the first time.
The programme has averted an estimated 33,000 maternal deaths and prevented 100,000 children from losing their mothers, according to MSI Reproductive Choices, one of the world’s biggest providers of contraception and abortion services.
“Giving people control and choice over whether they have a baby now or whether they delay for a year or two can be a real game changer at the time when people are having to deal with a lot of other crises,” said Anna Mackay, senior director of global programmes and philanthropy at MSI. Delaying pregnancy has been linked to better education for girls and poverty reduction for whole communities.
Speaking to the international development committee on Tuesday, chair Sarah Champion said she understood the programme was being cut. Development minister Jenny Chapman responded that she was “looking at it” and had received “mixed views”, though she added that the work was important and the government would seek to protect some funding for specific sexual reproductive health and rights programmes.
Family planning is often not seen as life-saving - certainly by the current US administration - but an unintended pregnancy in a country with high maternal mortality and no access to safe abortion can spell death, and does for tens of thousands each year.
The UK has been a significant contributor to sexual and reproductive health services in developing countries via its aid spending and could have stepped up to fill some of the gap left by US cuts.
Instead, an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute, along with Plan International UK and MSI Reproductive Choices, has projected more than two million additional unintended pregnancies, almost one million more unsafe abortions and nearly 3,000 more maternal deaths are expected as a result of the UK’s aid cuts.
Programmes tackling domestic violence
The UK has been a global leader in funding programmes to tackle gender-based violence in a number of Sub-Saharan African countries.
The UK-funded What Works programme has seen domestic violence drop by as much as 50 per cent within three years in communities where it operates. It also generates evidence on which interventions work best to tackle violence. The current programme includes relationship classes and counselling for individuals and couples, education in schools and training the police and health services.
The results show that “violence is preventable,” said Anne Gathumbi who leads the programme and leads to other outcomes like children being better nourished and doing better in school.
“This [UK] funding has been catalytic because it's enabled the growth of this movement,” she said. The prospect of cuts is “unsettling” she added, coming with the prospect that projects proven to reduce violence won’t be made available.
Supporting women in Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, the UK government has championed programmes to economically empower women and wider Afghan communities, and to help them adapt to climate change.
The situation for women in the country has deteriorated over the last three years with at least 70 directives from the Taliban targeting their rights and freedom.
“[The UK] had wonderful programs around supporting local women-led organisations,” which were currently facing profound challenges from the Taliban in their ability to operate, said Srikanta Misra, country director at Action Aid, Afghanistan. This included mentorship from larger international NGOs. But this support is now under threat from cuts.
The UK has also, “really pushed the boundary bringing in climate change as an issue which is a very important issue in Afghanistan,” Misra added. The country is the fourth most vulnerable in the world to the effects of climate change according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Misra said the UK had a particular “moral responsibility” given its role during prolonged conflict and instability within the country. However, he said, some real progress had been made by the UK in certain areas over the last few years.
But The Independent understands a key UK government programme to support women farmers and communities to use sustainable agricultural methods, prepare for disasters and improve food security is facing cuts of 60 per cent.
‘Shameful proposal’
Development minister Jenny Chapman has previously indicated gender and education projects are not top funding priorities, though she has slightly rowed back on this in more recent speeches.
Care International UK’s head of advocacy and policy, Dorothy Sang said the poverty-fighting charity remained, “deeply concerned about the government’s shameful proposal to cut aid funding for gender equality.
“We urge the prime minister to reverse course, and ensure the UK is not complicit in the global rollback on gender equality: by protecting gender-focused aid and by standing up for women’s rights on the global stage.”
An FCDO spokesperson said: “The UK is a leading voice in championing the rights of women and girls. That is why the Foreign Secretary appointed Baroness Harman as Special Envoy to champion the rights of women and girls globally.
“We have supported 191 civil society organisations across 70 countries to reach more than 7.7 million women and girls at risk of violence and have pioneered approaches that show around 50 per cent reductions in gender-based violence. From healthcare and education to economic empowerment, our support is changing lives."
This article was produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project
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