Charities demand that UK reverse 'shameful' aid cuts

More than 60 major UK and international charities have called for the government to reverse funding cuts that they warn will ensure the worst aid budget for women and girls on record”.

- RACHEL SCHRAER GLOBAL HEALTH CORRESPONDENT

In a joint statement signed by Oxfam, Save the Children, World Vision and Care International, the 61 charities say they are “deeply alarmed” by the “shameful proposal” to shift money away from projects that specifically support women and girls by scrapping dedicated spending on gender equality.

The charities estimate that the closure of just one UK-funded violence prevention project, the “What Works” programme, would put more than 1 million women and children at increased risk of abuse worldwide. One charity chief executive called the cuts “dangerous”.

In February, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer announced a plan to cut aid spending from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent of the UK’s gross national income – a measure of the nation’s total wealth. That amounts to roughly £6bn cut from a current budget of £15.4bn.

On 14 May, development minister Jennifer Chapman told MPs these cuts would fall on gender and education programmes, as the government sought to “sharpen [its] focus” on humanitarian emergencies in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan.