What FCDO will spend its money on this year

This year, the United Kingdom will cut aid to Africa by around 12% and reduce spending on several countries facing crises, including the occupied Palestinian territories, according to figures published Tuesday. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office released both its annual report and accounts for the fiscal year that ended March 2025 and an equality impact assessment for official development assistance, or ODA, program allocations for the following year, which assesses whether the allocations will have a particular impact on protected characteristics, such as race, gender, and disability. Some aspects of these documents were praised by the U.K. aid community, but a number of other decisions were received negatively. The documents show that in this fiscal year, which runs until March 2026, FCDO aid budget will fall by more than 6%, compared to the previous year — a drop from around £9.3 billion to £8.7 billion. That cut, which was widely anticipated, is part of the long-term plan to cut U.K. aid from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3%. An earlier set of documents, the comprehensive spending review, revealed that those cuts will see FCDO aid budget fall further, to around £6.8 billion in FY 2027 and £6.2 billion in FY 2028 — a decrease of over £3 billion. These figures do not represent all U.K. aid spending, as other government departments have also been allocated ODA budgets. What’s new in the FCDO report? Aid organizations in the U.K. identified several key new pieces of information. • This year will see deeper cuts to its funding for Africa, which will fall by around £184 million, or nearly 12%. However, this follows a steep rise in funding to Africa the previous year. • The U.K. will continue in full with its previous commitment of £1.98 billion over three years to the International Development Association, the World Bank fund which provides support, largely in the form of grants, to the world’s poorest countries — and will even provide some of the money ahead of schedule. • Some of the most vulnerable countries face cuts. The occupied Palestinian territories will get £101 million, a reduction of around 21%, while £120 million is earmarked for Sudan — a nearly 18% cut. • Women and girls have consistently been a U.K. priority area, but there are signs that this is changing. This area will get almost £285 million, a 42% cut. Health spending will also fall by almost 46% to £527 million. How did the UK aid sector react? U.K. development infrastructure bodies reacted critically to the figures. Bond, the U.K. network for organizations working in development, has carried out an in-depth analysis of the funding plans. “While we welcome the government’s efforts to maintain consistent levels of funding for humanitarian crises, Gavi and the World Bank’s IDA fund, it is concerning that bilateral funding for Africa, gender, education and health programmes will drop,” said Gideon Rabinowitz, director of policy and advocacy at Bond. “The world’s most marginalised communities, particularly those experiencing conflict and women and girls, will pay the highest price for these political choices. At a time when the US has gutted all gender programming, the UK should be stepping up, not stepping back.” Bond also praised the government for carrying out an impact assessment of this year’s cuts, which has allowed the sector to build a much clearer picture of who is affected. But it is pushing for similar assessments to be carried out each year. The ONE Campaign offered a similar assessment, focusing on a 51% cut to girls’ education. “Today’s report confirms significant cuts right now to some vital health, humanitarian and education programmes. The far deeper spending reductions next year will have deadly consequences for some of the world’s most vulnerable people,” said Adrian Lovett, ONE’s executive director for the U.K., Middle East, and Asia Pacific. “The cuts revealed today are tough, and appear to hit Africa especially hard,” he went on. “A year from now we will have plummeted over the cliff edge of far deeper cuts, gutting vital programmes supporting some of the world’s most vulnerable people.” The Center for Global Development was critical of the lack of focus on Africa. “It is unfortunate that Africa — home to over two thirds of those in extreme poverty — will receive under half of FCDO’s country and regional budget,” said Ian Mitchell, senior policy fellow and co-director of the Europe program at CGD. “If the government is to achieve its manifesto mission to tackle poverty, it will need to focus its budget where poverty exists and give African countries greater priority in its subsequent allocations.”