A few weeks ago, the prime minister shocked even his own ministers by slashing the UK’s already depleted aid budget to just 0.3% of gross national income (GNI); far short of the 0.7% his party campaigned on. In protest, his international development minister Anneliese Dodds resigned. Today we have seen those cuts exacerbated and cemented in the chancellor’s spring statement, alongside a reduction to welfare that looks akin to the austerity we were promised was a thing of the past. It would appear the government has chosen those with the fewest resources – both in the UK and overseas – to shoulder the burden of its efforts to balance the books.
The Labour government took office on the promise of ‘change’, with a manifesto committed to building fairer societies. The prime minister declared ‘Britain is back’, signalling what many hoped would be a revived era of global leadership on issues of social justice and equality, and strengthened relationships with the world. Yet this vision is now in tatters.
Whether it’s austerity or aid cuts, evidence shows that cuts to public spending impact women and girls first and worst. As the global rollback on women’s rights advances at pace, what the government decides to do next with its aid budget could shape the future for women, whole societies, and our world, for decades to come.
Following the cuts in 2021, research from CARE International UK found very few safeguards had been put in place to avoid a disproportionate impact on vital programming for women and girls in crisis. While the Overseas Development Aid (ODA) budget was cut by a third, between 2021 and 2022, programming to prevent violence against women and girls fell by 41% and funding to women’s rights organisations fell 66% from its peak in 2017.
In fact, while the UK has a proud legacy of championing the rights of women and girls, new data analysis shows that funding for gender equality already stands at its joint lowest on record – almost half what it was pre-pandemic.
Running in parallel to these cuts, we’ve seen a surge in powerful and well-funded anti-gender movements and anti-rights actors who have successfully curbed and cut back women’s rights on numerous fronts – education, sexual and reproductive health and basic civil liberties, to name a few.
What this looks like, in reality, is women banned from speaking in public in Afghanistan, rising sexual violence against women in Sudan, and 140 women and girls killed every day in 2023 by a partner or close relative.
That’s why we’re calling on the government to protect women and girls, by reversing the cuts and ensuring that at least 20% of UK aid has gender equality as the main objective.
The previous government pledged that at least 80% of ODA programmes would have a focus on gender equality, but much of this target is met through ‘gender mainstreaming’ – where the needs of women and girls are considered in decision-making but are not the primary goal of the programme. Our limited ODA could be part of the solution, but unless more funding explicitly tackles the root causes of gender inequality it risks acting as a sticking plaster, not a sustainable solution.
It may sound like splitting hairs, but in the wake of monumental aid cuts – this matters. Only by setting this new target can we truly protect programming that specifically meets the needs of women and girls – to prevent gender-based violence, support girls’ education, or access to sexual and reproductive rights. History has taught us that without this ringfencing, it’s these programmes that are hit first and worst. And when these programmes are lost – they rarely return.
Women globally continue to bear the brunt of decisions made by men. But gender equality isn’t just a women’s issue – it concerns everyone. There is evidence in abundance that when women thrive, communities and economies prosper, and societies become more peaceful. Attacking women’s rights leads to the erosion of universal rights. It’s in everyone’s interest, including men and boys, and the British government’s, to ensure that today’s decisions don’t cause irreparable harm.
And we know that the British public back this, too. New polling by More in Common, commissioned by CARE, shows that that the overwhelming majority – 86% – think it’s important for the British government and politicians to stand up for women and girls across the world. And almost two thirds, 65%, agree it’s important that the UK aid budget is used to protect women and girls’ rights, with only 8% believing it’s not important at all.
The world has changed immeasurably since the prime minister took office last year. But with rapidly evolving global dynamics, the government should look to adopt a fairer and more flexible approach to fiscal rules, rather than clinging to rigid policies that continue to harm those most in need, in the UK and the world. At a minimum, this should start by protecting women and girls with the aid budget.
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Source: Politics
