A year after Sir Keir Starmer announced that Britain’s aid budget would be slashed by up to 40 per cent, the leaders of dozens of charities have warned the “devastating” consequences of the cuts are being felt in some of the world’s most fragile corners.
Last February, the prime minister confirmed that the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) would fall from 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent by the end of 2027 – in a move justified as helping fund higher defence spending in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But in a joint statement marking the anniversary, 93 leaders from the UK’s international NGO sector described families in war-torn regions losing access to shelter, food and clean water and lifesaving health and reproductive programmes across Africa and Asia facing closure.
“As leaders of the UK INGO sector, we write to mark this grim anniversary and the devastating impacts of the cuts in the last year – and urge the UK government to restore the UK’s position as a principled, reliable and ambitious development partner,” the group says. “Over the past year, we have witnessed first-hand the consequences of these short-sighted cuts.”
Romilly Greenhill, chief executive of Bond, the UK network for NGOs, said the past 12 months had: “left more people without essential access to water, sanitation and shelter – they have also left us all vulnerable to a world with more disease, conflict and climate disasters.”
The cut is worth around £6 billion a year by the end of 2027. The last time that aid was at such a level was in 1999, when roughly 600 million people faced chronic hunger globally – compared with about 735 million today.
The government’s own equalities impact assessment for the 2025-26 reductions found that women and girls, people with disabilities, children and communities affected by conflict would be hardest hit. Rose Caldwell, CEO at Plan International UK, which focuses on the rights of children around the world, said: “The decision to cut UK aid a year ago was a devastating blow to children, who were already facing increased challenges from climate change and conflict, disrupting their childhoods and learning. We know both from experience and the government’s own assessment that when aid is cut, women and girls suffer the most.”
“Sadly, we are seeing that efforts to erode hard-won rights for children, and especially girls, are gaining ground, “Ms Caldwell added. “At this crucial time, the UK must stand up for the futures of women and girls around the world.”
The ONE Campaign estimates that announced reductions to Gavi – the global vaccine alliance – and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria could cost a combined 620,000 lives. Adrian Lovett, the group’s UK executive director, said the cuts had “failed on their own terms.”
“They haven’t plugged the huge gap in the defence budget, nor have they made Labour any more popular with voters, most of whom back investment in lifesaving health programmes in other countries,” he said
The Independent, alongside a coalition of MPs and charities, has called for the prime minister to protect HIV funding and help end the Aids pandemic by 2030.
A recent analysis by the Centre for Global Development suggests Britain is on course to shrink its aid budget faster than the United States. The think tank projects UK ODA will fall by around 27 per cent between 2024-25 and 2026-27, compared with an estimated 23 per cent drop in US development spending over the same period, after Congress softened some of Donald Trump’s proposed reductions. The US president returned to the White House in January last year and instantly slashed his country’s aid spending.
For many in the aid sector, the damage is no longer just financial, but reputational too. “The UK’s retreat from its international development agenda will reverse hard-won progress and weaken our credibility and influence on the global stage,” Ms Greenhill said.
With Britain engaging in global development and finance discussions this year, Ms Greenhill urged ministers to reverse the reductions and ensure poverty reduction remains at the heart of UK aid policy.
This article has been produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project
