UK aid cuts resulted in a £1.9 billion cut to gender equality projects in 2021

A report by CARE International has highlighted how the UK aid cuts have undermined UK support and leadership for women and girls around the world.

By analysing the proportion of UK aid that has a principal or significant focus on gender equality over the last 10 years, it is clear that UK funding cuts in 2021 resulted in a significant gap in funding for women and girls. A return to pre-2020 levels requires an increase of £1.6 billion from FCDO programming and up to £1.9 billion overall from the UK government.

In November 2021 Foreign Secretary of State Liz Truss announced that the development budget for women and girls would be restored to pre-cut levels. This announcement was welcomed by the development sector. However, no further clarity has been provided on when and how.

Previously the UK has been seen as a committed leader on gender equality and champion for women’s and girls’ rights. However, UK Aid cuts and the way they are being implemented will have a wide-ranging and long-standing impact on gender equality focused programming. CARE’s report outlines how women and girls will suffer most from reductions in funding to critical sectors. Reduced support for areas including girls’ education, water and sanitation, sexual and reproductive health and rights and humanitarian action will all impact women and girls and put lives at risk. 

COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on women and girls means there is an urgent need to accelerate efforts towards gender equality, strengthen women’s and girls’ leadership and prevent the pandemic from rolling back progress on gender equality by decades. The disproportionate impact of the pandemic on gender equality has meant there has never been a more urgent time to invest in women and girls through UK Aid – or a worse time for budget cuts.

Key findings from CARE’s report ‘UK leadership on gender equality globally: learning from past lessons on where the UK should invest for women and girls’ show that:

• During the pandemic, gender-based violence (GBV) increased and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been more severe for women than for men. Yet the aid cuts have affected all these areas of gender equality programmes including:
  • Having a negative impact on tackling GBV with cuts to at least one programme focusing on violence prevention. GBV is a key priority of the Foreign Secretary
  • Reducing funding to the Work and Opportunities for Work programme.

The FCDO’s own Equalities Impact Assessment to inform the 2021/22 allocation process warned that aid cuts would likely lead to a “significant reduction in the number and size of targeted programme activities aimed at reaching those furthest behind — including women, girls and people with disabilities”

Caroline Nokes, Conservative MP and Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, said:

“This report shows the UK has demonstrated political leadership on gender equality over the last 10 years but recent funding cuts risk turning back the clock on hard-won gender progress.

“The UK Government has been an instrumental leader in the fight for gender equality but they need to fund their projects adequately to continue making a difference.”

Sarah Champion, Labour MP and Chair of the International Development Select Committee, said:

“The government has spoken on the importance of supporting gender equality but the reality does not match the rhetoric.

“If the Government is once again to be a leader on gender equality then returning funding for women and girls’ projects needs to be a top priority.”

Helen Pankhurst, CARE International UK’s Special Adviser on Gender Equality, said:

“Research tells us that for every one woman that escapes poverty, she brings four others in her circle with her. So prioritising aid projects with gender equality at the heart is an effective investment. But more fundamentally, it’s the right thing to do. We won’t accept a world, a system, where women and girls are disproportionately impacted by poverty and denied equal opportunities to tackle it for themselves and their communities. 

“The pandemic has rolled back women’s rights by a generation and the unfolding conflict in Ukraine has resulted in a refugee crisis of primarily women and children. These crises only reinforce the need for more and better investment in supporting women and girls through UK Aid.”

Read the full press release here.