‘Horrible numbers’ of women and girls will die as a result of Britain’s aid cuts, MPs say

Britain’s aid cuts have had a “devastating” effect on women and girls around the world, forcing the cancellation of sexual and reproductive health programmes, according to a new cross-party report by MPs.

The Commons International Development Select Committee (IDC) said falling aid spending since 2020 had cost lives and put many more pregnant women at risk, while abrupt cuts, often midway through the programme, had damaged relationships with partner organisations.

Nearly 300,000 women died during pregnancy and childbirth worldwide in 2020, according to the parliamentary committee, which said aid should be used to combat this problem, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where 70% of deaths occurred. It was also said that 2.4 million children died in their first year – most of them in sub-Saharan Africa or Central and South Asia.

Sarah Champion, IDC President, said: “A girl in South Sudan is more likely to die in childbirth than to complete high school. Even here in Britain, maternal mortality is at its highest level in 20 years, but almost 95% of maternal deaths worldwide occur in poorer countries.”

An analysis of the potential impact of government policy on disadvantaged groups, also known as an Equality Impact Assessment presented to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in July 2023warned that the cuts could mean almost 200,000 more unsafe abortions being performed in Africa.

Champion, the Labor MP for Rotherham, said: “Last year’s equality impact assessment by the FCDO showed the horrific numbers of women and girls, thousands upon thousands, who will again experience unsafe abortions and who will die during pregnancy or childbirth as a direct result of this. as a result of cuts in British aid spending.

“There is no point in the new Foreign Secretary coming into Parliament and declaring that Britain is still a global aid superpower, while we are failing to meet our funding commitments, fail to set meaningful targets or achieve achieving sexual and reproductive health and rights – failing women, girls and marginalized groups around the world,” she said.

Britain cut its official development assistance (ODA) from £11.7 billion in 2019 to £7.6 billion in 2022. Funding for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) was cut by a third.

MSI Reproductive Choices, which provides contraception and safe abortion services, said it experienced a 79% cut in FCDO funding for its integrated women’s sexual health programs between 2019-20 and 2023-24.

The Commons committee called on the department to offset the damage caused by previous aid cuts by setting a minimum percentage of ODA spending on reproductive health. Programs should be funded for at least five years to ensure stability, it added.

The report acknowledged that the government has increased its funding for several humanitarian crises in response to the equality assessment, but did not say how much would be spent on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

On Monday, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development confirmed that the record high in aid spending in 2022 was mainly due to the country’s higher costs of supporting refugees and supporting the war in Ukraine. Britain spent 29%, or $4.54 billion, of its total aid budget on refugees in 2022, more than any other OECD member.

Halima Begum, CEO of ActionAid UK, said a rethink was needed. “(Aid spending) is increasingly aligned with Britain’s national strategic priorities rather than those of the (recipient) countries,” she said.

“It should not be focused on the needs of our government. The money spent on ODA should be spent on the needs of other countries,” Begum said. “We must cast a wide net and look back at the spending of ODA funds on global inequality and growing poverty.”

The FCDO was contacted for comment.