THE Labour UK Government has been accused of "increasing poverty at home and abroad" after it emerged women and children would be hit hardest by cuts to foreign aid.
The Government said in February it would slash foreign aid spending by 40% – from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% – to increase defence spending to 2.5% amid pressure from the US.
A Foreign Office report and impact assessment show the biggest cuts this year will come in Africa, with less spent on women's health and water sanitation with increased risks, it says, of disease and death.
Bond, a UK network of aid organisations, said women and children in the most marginalised communities would pay the highest price.
Announcing the plan for aid spending for 2025-2026, the minister for development Baroness Chapman said the Government was “modernising” its approach and that “every pound must work harder for UK taxpayers”.
The SNP's international development spokesperson Chris Law (below) said the decision to slash aid is "short-sighted" and undermines Scotland's values.
"By breaking yet another manifesto pledge, Keir Starmer is putting some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people at increased risk of death and disease, while at the same time the Labour Party's punitive welfare cuts are causing child poverty to soar to record levels in the UK.
"The decision to rip up our international commitments, and slash aid, is shortsighted, and it directly undermines Scotland's values and interests – damaging our influence and security. The fact that [[Keir Starmer]] has a worse record on poverty than the Tories should embarrass him.
"It's clear tackling poverty isn't a priority for this Labour government. In contrast, the [[SNP]] is lifting families out of poverty in Scotland and we will continue to demand the UK government take action to support the families it is failing in the UK – and to meet our obligations to vulnerable people who face starvation, disease and death in places including Gaza and Africa."
As part of its new approach, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said that it will prioritise global organisations with a proven track record of impact, such as the World Bank and the vaccine alliance Gavi, in efforts to deliver better results for taxpayers and aid beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the FCDO said bilateral support for some countries will decrease and multilateral organisations deemed to be underperforming will face future funding cuts. It has not yet announced which countries will be affected.
Former minister for international development Anneliese Dodds quit the role over the plan to cut foreign aid.
She said she knew there were no “easy paths” to increase defence spending, but that she disagreed with the decision for aid to “absorb the entire burden” in her resignation letter.
Bond said it was clear the Government was "deprioritising" funding "for education, gender and countries experiencing humanitarian crises such as South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, and surprisingly the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Sudan, which the government said would be protected".
"It is concerning that bilateral funding for Africa, gender, education and health programmes will drop," Bond policy director Gideon Rabinowitz said.
"The world's most marginalised communities, particularly those experiencing conflict and women and girls, will pay the highest price for these political choices.
"At a time when the US has gutted all gender programming, the UK should be stepping up, not stepping back."
The One campaign, which aims to reduce poverty in Africa, warned that in a year the UK “will have plummeted over the cliff edge of far deeper cuts”.
Director Adrian Lovett said: “The Government’s enduring commitment to the International Development Association (IDA) is a smart investment in long-term development, and is one hopeful sign.
“We urge ministers to apply the same foresight and resolve across the board – especially when it comes to supporting women and girls, and tackling growing humanitarian crises.
“The cuts revealed today are tough, and appear to hit Africa especially hard. A year from now we will have plummeted over the cliff edge of far deeper cuts, gutting vital programmes supporting some of the world’s most vulnerable people.”
