FCDO Africa budgets lay bare catastrophic impact of Government’s overseas aid cuts

Kathleen Spencer Chapman, Director of Influencing and External Affairs at Plan International UK said:  

“These extreme cuts are coming at the worst possible time for girls and communities enduring some of Africa’s most devastating humanitarian crises. It is unconscionable that, in the same year the UN has warned of worsening hunger and a growing risk of famine conditions in Somalia, the UK Government is cutting life-saving humanitarian funding to the country by nearly half.    

“Our teams have told us how girls’ lives are already slowly and painfully being lost during a worsening hunger crisis in Somalia, as mothers watch their children’s lives slip away needlessly. During the last famine, nearly a quarter of a million people died. These cuts risk repeating one of the darkest chapters in Somalia’s recent history.   

“When food runs out, it is often girls who are impacted first and hardest. They are most likely to be pulled out of school, forced into early marriage or exposed to exploitation as families struggle to survive. At the same time, worsening climate shocks continue to drive humanitarian needs across the Horn of Africa, making this precisely the time when the UK should be stepping up support, not stepping back.   

“The reduction in UK aid from 0.7% was always meant to be temporary. As the Prime Minister prepares to leave office, he risks leaving behind a legacy of cuts where the impacts will be felt for years to come. For the new Prime Minister, this is a moment to change course and ensure sufficient life-saving aid reaches those who need it most, before more lives are lost.”