The UK government has struck yet another devastating blow to women and girls around the world – this time, by actively targeting gender equality funding for cuts in its latest overhaul of the UK aid budget.
CARE International UK is outraged by this decision. This is not just a budget adjustment – it is a direct political choice to withdraw support from the world’s most at-risk women and girls at a time when women’s rights are under unprecedented rollback.
This is unacceptable. We need your support to say: women’s rights are not optional, and the UK’s commitment to women and girls is unshakeable.
What is happening to the UK aid budget?
In February, the government announced its intention to cut the UK’s aid budget from 0.5% to 0.3% of Gross National Income by 2027 - a staggering £6 billion reduction. The government says these cuts will help fund increased defence spending.
But the consequences are deadly. Analysis suggests these cuts could leave more than million women and children at increased risk of violence, and almost 33 million could miss out on family planning support due to a reduction in sexual health and other programmes.
And now, with the government proposing to reduce targeted funding to gender equality initiatives, the impact will hit women and girls even worse – especially those facing conflict, climate disaster and poverty.
The impact on women and girls
Behind every lost pound there is a mother unable to provide food or water for her children. A young girl who needs protection from violence left to face increased risk. A story like Faduz's, who lives in camp for internally displaced people in Somaliland - "Sometimes there is no water," she says. "I only wish for my children to survive."
Whether it’s austerity or aid cuts, women and girls always pay the highest price when spending is cut. And we’ve seen this before: under previous Conservative governments, the aid budget was gutted – with programmes supporting women and girls being hit hardest. This meant disproportionate cuts to programming that prevents violence against women, and funding for women’s rights organisations.
The government has plans to mitigate the impact by ‘mainstreaming’ gender into other programming. CARE International UK welcomes this ambition. But it shouldn’t serve as a substitute for dedicated funding for gender equality.
Why? The most effective and sustainable mainstreaming involves a twin-track approach: investments targeted at gender equality that change the dynamics and preconditions disadvantaging women and girls AND ensuring gender-sensitivity across all other programming. Doing only the latter means that, while women and girls may be reached with assistance, the structural inequalities that leave them most at-risk of poverty and violence in the first place are left intact.
That’s why, this time under a Labour government, we cannot watch history repeat itself. It’s essential that gender-targeted aid funding is protected.
What do the public think?
The British public recognises how critical this issue is - and they want the government to act accordingly.
New YouGov polling commissioned by CARE International UK shows that:
- 63% of Britons believe the UK aid budget should be used to protect the rights of women and girls.
- Yet just 37% of the public believe the UK Government genuinely cares about the rights of women and girls.
- Britons are much more likely to believe that aid spending targeted at women and girls is good value for money, not bad.
These findings send a clear message: the government is out of step with public values. Voters want to see an aid policy that prioritises human dignity, gender equality, and support for the most vulnerable — not one that sidelines them.
The government must listen.
What we want from the government
The government must not turn away from people who face danger every day; women who need access to vital supplies now more than ever.
CARE International UK is asking the government to:
- Assess how aid cuts will affect marginalised communities, particularly women and girls, before implementing them
- Protect women and girls from the worst impacts by committing to funding gender equality programmes
- Prioritise funding for those who can create the greatest change, namely women’s rights and women-led organisations
Over 60 organisations have signed a joint statement calling on the Government to rethink a ‘shameful’ move which contradicts Labour's manifesto promise to put women and girls at the heart of its foreign policy:
Want to know more?
If you'd like to know more about how you can work with CARE to protect women and girls from funding cuts, please get in touch with Laura Denham, Public Affairs and Engagement Manager.