An LED truck has circled Westminster sending a clear message to Keir Starmer and David Lammy amid final decisions on the government’s cuts to international aid: Back to the Future is a film, not a blueprint for foreign policy.
As the prime minister faced MPs in the Commons and the foreign secretary sat in front of the International Development Committee, the truck – depicting Starmer as Doc Brown and Lammy as Marty McFly - urged them to reverse the rollback on funding for women’s rights and prioritise gender equality programmes.
The campaign, organised by CARE International UK and supported by 13 NGOs including Restless Development, Women For Women International UK, Centenary Action, International Rescue Committee UK (IRC UK), ONE Campaign, ActionAid UK, Oxfam GB, Plan International UK, Age International UK, The Circle, Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS), Gender and Development Network (GADN), and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom UK (WILPF UK), confronts the government’s deadly decision to de-prioritise gender equality in the aid budget, marking a devastating blow to millions of women and girls across the world whose rights are already under attack. It follows a joint statement from over 60 organisations calling on the government to rethink its ‘shameful’ move which contradicts Labour’s promise to put women and girls at the heart of its foreign policy.
When gender-focused funding disappears, so do the basic rights and protections important to us all. That’s why funding that prioritises gender equality – currently just 12 per cent of all UK aid – must be protected from the cuts.
Recent polling revealed the British public understands just how critical this is and disagrees that the government should be stripping support for women and girls. These surveys found:
- Just 37% of the public believe the UK government cares about the rights of women and girls
- 63% of the public believe the overseas aid budget should be used to protect the rights of women and girls around the world
- 66% of the public believe the overseas aid budget should be used to prevent violence against women and girls around the world
- 62% of young women say the prime minister is not doing enough to stand up for gender equality on the world stage
CARE International UK’s head of advocacy and policy, Dorothy Sang, says:
“The UK government’s reckless retreat on its commitments to international aid will have a deadly and gendered cost, stripping funding from programmes that protect women and girls and support their leadership.
“Just as Back to the Future proves the dangers of altering timelines, these cuts will rewrite the future for millions of women and girls globally – and we cannot afford to turn back time on progress being made on gender equality.
“If the government goes ahead with these cuts, they will signal to the world the rights of women and girls are not worth investing in. It must reverse course, realign its values, and ensure gender equality is prioritised and protected.”
Restless Development’s co-CEO, Alex Kent, says:
"Around the world, women and girls are seeing their rights rolled back and instead of stepping up, the UK Government is considering slashing the budget that helps protect them.
“Cutting funding for gender equality isn’t just out of touch, it will take us back decades. We urge the government to stand with women and girls everywhere by protecting their rights and investing in their futures."
Women for Women International UK’s managing director, Sara Bowcutt, says:
"Women for Women International urgently calls on the UK government to reverse the rollback on funding commitments to women's rights. Our global consultation, From Asking to Action, heard from over 6,500 women across 14 conflict-affected countries. Their message was clear: more action must be taken to support gender equality – not less. 75% of women we spoke to called for increased funding and resources, particularly for gender-sensitive aid.
“With conflict and insecurity on the rise, the UK government cannot abandon those most marginalised. Despite ongoing challenges, more than 81% of the 6,500 women we spoke to said they remain hopeful that their situations will improve in the next five years. The UK government must do justice to that hope and meet it with action."
Notes to editors
For all media enquiries, please contact Zaina Alibhai at alibhai@careinternational.org
High-res images can be found here
Spokespeople are available upon request
