UK May Scrap Equality Pledge on Foreign Aid

Ministers are considering scrapping a commitment to spend 80% of foreign aid on projects that include work to support gender equality, the Guardian has learned. Critics said the move could worsen the impact of Donald Trump's rollback of funding for diversity and aid projects abroad, which has affected maternal and reproductive health services in developing countries.

- Eleni Courea

The Conservative government committed in 2023 to ensuring that 80% of the Foreign Office's bilateral aid programmes had a focus on gender equality by 2030. Labour ministers reaffirmed the commitment this year. Stephen Doughty, a junior Foreign Office minister, said ministers would continue to work towards the target in March, even after the government said it was cutting aid from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP to spend more on defence.

Under the target, 80% of aid spending must go to programmes that have gender as a component by 2030, though it does not need to be the main focus.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, told MPs last month that he could not "commit to decisions made by the last government" and it was "for us to look at this afresh".

The government spent £15.3bn on aid in 2023, the latest year for which final figures are available. Of this, £10bn was bilateral aid spent directly on projects in developing countries, instead of multilateral institutions such as the UN. Provisional figures suggest UK aid spending fell to £14.1bn in 2024, 8% down on 2023, with £11.3bn going to bilateral aid.