Tracking the UK’s controversial aid cuts

On Nov. 25, 2020, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced the government would no longer be spending 0.7% of gross national income on official development assistance, despite a legal commitment binding the government to the target. The cut to the aid budget has left a £4.6 billion (over $6.3 billion) black hole in the budget compared to 2019, leading to numerous program closures in 2021, including in key areas like health and humanitarian work. More cuts are expected as the government grapples with further spending difficulties. Here, Devex tracks the impact of the known U.K. aid cuts and the effect on the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Additions that need verification may not appear in real-time. This should not be considered an exhaustive list, as many organizations that have undergone severe budget cuts have chosen to keep the information private. Sept. 15, 2023 — U.K. aid to Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh has been cut by 85% since 2019-2020, according to the Burma Campaign. Aug. 28, 2023 — Cuts to the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, which saw the £2.6 million Sudan Transitional Programme scrapped after just 10 months, meant the U.K. government, a key mediator in the African country’s reforms, underestimated the risk of civil war in the country, according to documents obtained by Devex. Aug. 2, 2023 — FCDO released an impact assessment of 2023-2023 aid cuts which shows swingeing cuts across a range of areas, including specialized services for rape victims in South Sudan, for women and girls in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and for students and teachers in Ethiopia. Thousands of people “in acute humanitarian need” will die unnecessarily as a result of the cuts, according to the analysis. The documents also revealed the U.K. was cutting £85m worth of climate projects. July 18, 2023 — It was announced that bilateral aid spending will, finally, bounce back sharply next year – but only after another 12 months of steep cuts. Some £1.58 billion will be distributed country-by-country in the current financial year — down 16% on £1.89 billion in 2022-23 — but the budget pledged a rise to £2.69 billion in 2024-25. July 4, 2023 — The U.K.’s £11.6 billion international climate finance pledge is being dropped as a result of the aid cuts, reported The Guardian. The government denied the claim, but former FCDO Minister Zac Goldsmith said in his resignation letter that the target had been “effectively abandoned.” May 19, 2023 — The aid cuts and Department for International Development merger are linked to the inability of officials to predict the outbreak of civil conflict in Sudan. May 3, 2023 — Experts raise concerns about aid funding being used for multiple ends, after International Development Minister Andrew Mitchell tells Devex: “When there's a humanitarian crisis, we need to be spending a proportion of money on adaptation and resilience.” Climate finance is supposed to be additional to aid funding, though in reality, in the U.K. it comes from the same pot. May 2, 2023 — Cuts of “less than £30 million” to the BBC World Service will cause 382 job losses, according to Sarah Champion MP, citing BBC documents. April 6, 2023 — FCDO documents show the U.K. government spent nearly twice as much of the aid budget within its own borders in 2022 than it did bilaterally in Africa and Asia combined, spending £3.7 billion and £2 billion respectively. March 30, 2023 — FCDO published program allocations signaling international development budget cuts of around £1.5 billion in 2023-24, despite additional aid funding and an improving economic picture overall. As a result of Home Office pressures on the aid budget, more domestic than international aid spending is expected, signaling a “total transformation” of the aid budget, according to an expert. The reductions include: • A 53% cut to aid to Afghanistan and Pakistan, from £304.4 million to £141.9 million. • Bilateral spending in Africa falls from £765.9 million to £648.1 million next year. • Dedicated vaccine spending eliminated altogether in 2023-23. An 85% cut was made to the Supporting Afghanistan’s Basic Services program, run by Save The Children, which included support for children’s health care and education, according to the NGO. In December 2022, the government made a £7 million contribution but cut it to just over £1 million in the same month. FCDO Minister Lord Ahmad later wrote that this was because of a “reduction in the Afghanistan ODA allocation for 2022-23 from £286m to £246m.” Another program, the Early Recovery and Resilience Support Programme, run by Norwegian Refugee Council, was also closed, according to Ahmad’s letter. March 22, 2023 — The FCDO announced a new water, sanitation and hygiene program targeting Asia and Africa, pledging £18.5 million over five years. In 2019 alone, bilateral spending on WASH was £176 million. March 14, 2023 — U.K. spending on peacebuilding and conflict prevention fell from $514 million in 2016, proportionally the largest in the world, to $184 million in 2021, according to research from NGOs Saferworld and Mercy Corps. March 14, 2023 — The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund is to be merged into a bigger organization with a broader remit, including on domestic security, the U.K. government announces. Despite its wider mandate, the new body, the UK Integrated Security Fund, will have a budget of £1 billion, compared to CSSF’s budget of £1.2 billion in 2018-2019. March 9, 2023 — Sexual and reproductive health funding, launched with much fanfare for International Women's Day, was actually a cut compared to previous funding rounds, Devex revealed. Feb. 9, 2023 — The UK government confirmed it has no plans to restrict spending the aid budget on refugees domestically, which has been eating into the funding for international programs. Jan. 18, 2023 — “The combined impact of the [aid] budget reductions and the loss of expert personnel is that the UK democracy and human rights portfolio is now not as well positioned to respond to its high policy ambitions, or to new threats or opportunities emerging at the international level,” says a report by the Independent Commision for Aid Impact. Jan. 11, 2023 — The U.K. government was accused by Nick Hepworth, executive director of Water Witness International, of holding “some responsibility” for a cholera outbreak in Malawi that has killed more than 700 people as a result of the aid cuts to water, sanitation, and hygiene and for the failure of storm early warning systems. Dec. 9, 2022 — U.K. aid cuts mean some investments in peace building were “wasted” according to a review by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact. “The UK government’s poor donor practice weakened results and increased the risk of doing harm,” it said. “The donors we interviewed, in Nigeria in particular, also saw a government distracted by what they perceived to be self-inflicted volatility and this significantly lowered the UK government’s standing.” Dec. 6, 2022 — International Development Minister Andrew Mitchell said 30% cuts to bilateral programs were expected, as “open ended” Home Office costs ate into the aid budget. Oct. 31, 2022 — The U.K. government misses the deadline to donate to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. "The U.K. is acting as an unreliable partner and preventing the Global Fund from communicating clearly to its grantees about what funding is now available for them to work with, creating uncertainty," said Mike Podmore, U.K. director at STOPAIDS. Under Andrew Mitchell, the new international development minister, the U.K. eventually provided £1 billion — £400 million less than in 2019. Oct. 31, 2022 — The U.K. government missed the September deadline to make its $288 million payment to the Green Climate Fund and has not paid a $20.6 million pledge made to the Adaptation Fund. (Politico) Oct. 28, 2022 — An education program that reached 4 million children, run by BRAC Bangladesh, has reduced numbers supported by almost 75%, according to Asif Saleh, the NGO’s executive director. (BBC Newsnight) Oct. 21, 2022 — The U.K. defaulted on a $288 million payment to the Green Climate Fund, according to The Wire. Oct. 19, 2022 — Politicians worry the aid budget could be cut to 0.3% of gross national income. Oct. 19, 2022 — A £1 million annual donation to a trachoma treatment program reaching 1.7 million people in Zambia was ended in May 2021, forcing the cancellation of around 2,000 planned surgeries, which is predicted to have caused blindness in around 1,000 of the patients, reported The New York Times. Oct. 17, 2022 — The U.K. aid freeze has been extended to Oct. 31 amid political chaos. Oct. 15, 2022 — Snail fever, a neglected tropical disease, is resurgent in Zanzibar following U.K. aid cuts, reported The Times. It had been nearly eliminated on the archipelago. Aug. 27, 2022 — The U.K. aid cuts are blamed for the “pathetically small sum” of “up to £1.5M” pledged by the U.K. in the immediate aftermath of flooding in Pakistan, which reportedly submerged a third of the country. The sum later increased to £26.5 million. Aug. 5, 2022 — Surplus COVID-19 vaccines donated to lower-income countries could cost the U.K.’s aid budget around £300 million, which will likely be taken from international development programs, according to an analysis by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. July 29, 2022 — FCDO "will need to revisit" multiyear spending commitments due to the government's response to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, according to FCDO minister Tariq Ahmad. July 26, 2022 — Mark Lowcock, former United Nations emergency relief coordinator, tells Devex it is “absolutely clear” that cutting U.K. aid to countries such as Yemen, South Sudan, and Somalia has been “definitely increasing the loss of life [from humanitarian disasters]. There's no question about that.” July 25, 2022 — The U.K. Treasury suspends “non-essential” aid spending because of mounting Home Office costs for refugees — feared to be in the billions, which will require money that would be spent on international development and humanitarian programs. Critics say it marks the third round of budget cuts to international development programs in as many years. July 14, 2022 — The UNDP indicates it expects further cutbacks from U.K. aid funding. June 30, 2022 — The U.K.’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy — tasked with dealing with climate change — is “surrendering climate finance and foreign aid underspends” to finance military aid to Ukraine, according to Kwasi Kwarteng, who leads the department. The U.K., still COP 26 president, previously insisted its £11.6 billion ($14 billion) international climate finance commitment was protected. Meanwhile, the U.K. aid funding to the Great Britain-China Centre — worth £500,000 ($603, 830) and covering 61% of its operating costs — has ceased, reported the Spectator. The decision, which will damage a group concerned with U.K.-China relations, comes as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss takes an increasingly hawkish line on the country. June 23, 2022 — U.K. aid cuts to humanitarian spending totaled $1 billion in 2021, more than any other government donor, according to research by Development Initiatives. Syria, Yemen, and Sudan were worst off, with cuts of 64%, 40%, and 74% respectively compared to spending in 2020. June 15, 2022 — The U.K. aid cuts caused “a thousand programs or more to be cut,” according to Stefan Dercon, who worked as policy advisor to former Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and helped oversee the reductions. May 6, 2022 — An analysis by the ONE Campaign estimated the U.K. aid cuts caused: • 7.1 million children to lose their education, of which 3.7 million were girls. • 5.3 million women and girls to lose access to modern family planning methods. • 11.6 million children, girls, and women to lose out on nutrition support. • 3.3 million to lose humanitarian aid. • 54 megawatts of clean energy to not be installed. May 5, 2022 — 40,160 Syrian children are without an education as a direct result of the U.K. aid cuts, according to research by Action for Humanity/Syria Relief. April 28, 2022 — Following an April 4 press release announcing an £89 million education project funded by U.K. aid in Tanzania, FCDO confirms that planned spending for the initiative was originally set at £119.5 million but later reduced because of the aid cuts. April 26, 2022 — The U.K. government announces that “almost £40 million” in aid for Somalia has been allocated so far in 2022, amid fears of famine. But FCDO support for the country in the 2019-2020 fiscal year amounted to £260 million, according to Development Tracker. April 26, 2022 — Parliament’s International Development Committee publishes a list of U.K. aid programs that NGOs Humanity & Inclusion and Sightsavers said had been cut or canceled across at least a dozen countries. April 12, 2022 — FCDO releases data on the aid cuts that confirms a £4.6 billion reduction took place, disproportionately affecting Africa, sexual and reproductive health projects, and legacy Department for International Development programs. April 13, 2022 — CARE International UK and Development Initiatives release an analysis showing a drop of up to £1.9 billion between 2019 and 2021 in funding significantly focused on gender equality. “Countries hit hardest by these cuts to gender-relevant projects include Bangladesh (a reduction of £168 million), Ethiopia (£151 million), Pakistan (£135 million), Nigeria (£120 million) and Yemen – the UK’s most funded humanitarian crisis between 2018 and 2021 – (£88 million). Gender-relevant disbursements to Syria (the UK’s second most highly funded humanitarian crisis between 2018 and 2021) also saw a decrease of £76 million,” the report says. March 31, 2022 — The United Kingdom’s public finance watchdog, the National Audit Office, finds that the government did not sufficiently consider the impact of the aid cuts on development programs. In a detailed report, it says the aid cuts policy lacked transparency and consultation, while also causing “value-for-money risk,” including to the government’s reputation. It also revealed new examples of aid cuts, including 62% for Bangladesh, 69% for Syria, 49% for South Sudan, 46% for Myanmar, and 50% for the Pan Africa Department. The Southern Africa Regional Trade and Connectivity Programme was among the projects that were closed as a result of the aid cuts, as was a project related to health and education for Palestinian refugees in Syria. March 15, 2022 — A “£2 million project reaching huge numbers of people, including 140,000 people with disabilities” run by CBM, an NGO, was closed, George Graham, Chief Executive of Humanity & Inclusion UK, told MPs during an enquiry into the UK aid cuts. March 15, 2022 — Bond, the U.K. network for NGOs, releases a blog post extensively documenting evidence of aid cuts to programs run by its member organizations. Jan. 21, 2022 — A survey from NGO Syria Relief found that 95% of Syrian refugees and internally displaced people are worried about how the U.K. aid cuts will affect their personal situation, according to a report by the organization. Jan. 21, 2022 — “The UK aid cuts have left millions of people needlessly at risk of avoidable blindness,” David Bennett, director of program support at the NGO Orbis UK, wrote to Devex. He cited a canceled program in Bangladesh that planned to provide community clinics to three million people with little or no access to eye care. Jan. 13, 2022 — The U.K. aid cuts increased the risk of atrocities, according to an expert from the International Rescue Committee. Jan. 10, 2022 — £1 billion ($1.3 billion) of British NGO funding is estimated to be at risk due to the combined impacts of the U.K. aid cuts and Brexit. Jan. 7, 2022 — Specialist work on conflict prevention lost £90 million ($121.9 million) allocated to the Middle East and North Africa, £50 million for South Asia, £19 million for Africa, and £23 million for multilaterals, because of cuts to the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, according to Saferworld, an NGO. The charity estimated the CSSF lost £348.9 million in the funding cuts overall. Jan. 6, 2022 — An analysis made by NGO Sightsavers found that 72 million people are expected to miss treatment for neglected tropical diseases between October 2021 and April 2022 as a result of the U.K. aid cuts. Dec. 27, 2021 — The U.K. government counted excess personal protection equipment as an aid budget cost until September 2021, according to the Independent. The Department of Health and Social Care reportedly had an aid budget of £160 million ($216.27 million), which had already been spent by early 2021, leading to “millions” of PPE items expiring instead of being donated to lower-income countries. Dec. 15, 2021 — The U.K. reduced its contribution to the World Bank’s International Development Association replenishment by $1.8 billion, or 55%, according to estimates. The lessened donation was a major reason the replenishment failed to hit its $100 billion target, instead reaching only $93 billion. Dec. 8, 2021 — Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tells Devex some aid funding for humanitarian and gender issues will be restored — but that it would be at the expense of unspecified multilateral commitments. Dec. 7, 2021 — The U.K. made no donation at the Nutrition for Growth summit, despite historically having been a key donor, until it cut nutrition funding by 70% amid the aid cuts, according to NGOs. Comparable donors like Japan and the European Union each committed at least $2.8 billion. Dec. 2, 2021 — WaterAid’s funding from FCDO dropped by 25%, from £6.4 million to £4.8 million, according to the NGO’s annual report. Oct. 27, 2021 — The autumn budget and spending review appears to confirm fears that the Treasury plans to charge COVID-19 vaccines and Special Drawing Rights to the 0.5% aid budget, signalling further budget cuts. Despite warm words from Chancellor Rishi Sunak, experts say the path back to 0.7% aid spending remains uncertain. Oct. 21, 2021 — The Treasury plans to charge Sudanese debt cancelation to the aid budget, effectively causing a further £580 million cut in 2022, according to a Freedom of Information request by the Jubilee Debt Campaign. Oct. 7, 2021 — U.K. aid funding for land mine clearance is slashed by 80%, from a three-year cycle of nearly £125 million to £25 million, according to a statement by the Mines Advisory Group. Oct. 7, 2021 — Tropical Health And Education Trust funding for health partnerships is cut by more than £40 million, according to Louise McGrath, director of programs at THET. Sept. 30, 2021 — FCDO releases the Statistics on International Development, showing a wide range of reductions made in the first round of aid cuts in 2020. The publication was also criticized for a lack of transparency. Education, ostensibly a government priority, was especially hard hit. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who also serves as minister for women and equalities, signed off £183 million in cuts to ​​education, gender, and equality spending, the Sunday Mirror reported. Sept. 21, 2021 — Experts warn the U.K. aid budget could face billions of pounds worth of further cuts. Sept. 21, 2021 — The U.K. aid cuts “directly hamper the worldwide fight against AIDS, putting 38 million people living with HIV at risk,” according to a report by STOPAIDS, Frontline AIDS, and the country’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV & AIDS. The document reported the early closure of a large sexual and reproductive health program called Approaches in Complex and Challenging Environments for Sustainable SRHR; a research program focused on barriers to SRHR services; and an LGBT-focused service program called Zero Violence. Sept. 3, 2021 — The Institute of Development Studies received a “double whammy” of reductions, with funding cuts from both FCDO and the aid-funded UK Research and Innovation, according to IDS Director Melissa Leach. She declined to detail the extent of the reductions. July 29, 2021 — The Small Charities Challenge Fund is closed for new applications, FCDO announces. Funding under the grant was “wiped out” on April 30, NGOs said. July 27, 2021 — Cuts to education programs continued even as the U.K. government prepared to host the Global Education Summit, amid suspicions other cuts were being held until after the big event, prolonging uncertainty for service providers. July 22, 2021 — The Malaria Consortium's program in Nigeria, known as Support to the National Malaria Programme 2 or SuNMaP2, was ended three years early “with immediate effect,” according to the organization. “Nigeria has the largest malaria burden in the world, accounting for 27 percent of global cases and 23 percent of global deaths each year,” the Malaria Consortium said in a statement. SuNMaP2’s predecessor program saw malaria prevalence in children fall from 42% to 27%. July 20, 2021 — FCDO is seeking to make 20% savings on employee salaries, which is likely to cause redundancies, according to Bloomberg. Development staff are reportedly expected to bear the brunt of the cuts. FCDO confirmed the department was reviewing its operating costs ahead of the autumn spending review to “ensure we have the right capabilities to deliver on our international priorities and respond to any challenges. This review takes account of all our spending, not just aid and no decisions have yet been taken.” July 13, 2021 — The U.K. Parliament passes a motion cementing the aid budget reduction to 0.5% of national income and effectively placing the 0.7% target out of reach for years. July 7, 2021 — Christian Aid announces the closure of peace-building work led by churches in South Sudan because of the 59% U.K. aid cut to the nation. "These cuts risk having a lethal effect on the chances of a lasting peace here," says James Wani, South Sudan country director at the organization. July 1, 2021 — The Overseas Development Institute publishes an analysis on changes to the U.K.’s country by country bilateral aid spend, following the publication of new figures on Dev Tracker, the government’s online aid spending transparency portal. June 16, 2021 — A huge tranche of evidence submitted by development organizations to Parliament’s International Development Committee provides the most detailed public information so far on the “car crash” handling of the U.K. aid cuts process by FCDO, revealing numerous new program reductions, delays, and cancellations. June 15, 2021 — David Davis, one of the Conservative members of Parliament rebelling over the aid cuts, tells the House of Commons that “impeccable sources” informed him that the government planned to cut aid to Ethiopia by £58 million, or “more than half.” After a request for clarification, FCDO did not deny the claim, but linked Devex to two recent statements on the Tigray crisis. June 15, 2021 — U.K. aid cuts of £6.1 million hit existing or agreed conflict prevention and peace-building projects in Myanmar, Yemen, South Sudan, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, and Somalia, according to a joint statement from Conciliation Resources, International Alert, and Saferworld. June 14, 2021 — The U.K. cancels support for the far-reaching Strategic Partnership Arrangement with Bangladesh, the NGO BRAC says. According to the group, the decision means the U.K. will no longer provide an education for 360,000 girls, school places for 725,000 children, nutritional support for 12 million infants, access to family planning services for 14.6 million women and girls, skills training and assets for 385,000 families in extreme poverty, or climate interventions for 2 million households. June 10, 2021 — Unitaid, a health agency funding medicines and health tools for lower-income countries, announces that the U.K. government has cut its 2021 funding by 92%, from £77 million to £6 million. June 4, 2021 — Devex reveals U.K. government plans to charge Special Drawing Rights to the aid budget, squeezing the amount available for other programs. June 3, 2021 — The Malawi Violence Against Women and Girls Prevention and Response Programme has been canceled, according to a source working at one of the implementing organizations. May 26, 2021 — The Support to Adolescent Girls Empowerment in Sierra Leone program suffers a “significant budget reduction” as a result of the aid cuts, according to Annie Murthi, head of finance at implementing NGO Purposeful. The full reduction is still being decided. May 26, 2021 — Humanitarian research group Elrha reports a 65% cut in FCDO funding for its Humanitarian Innovation Fund and an unspecified funding reduction for its Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises project. May 25, 2021 — In the first public revelation of a UK Aid Match program being affected by the cuts, War Child has announced that it will not be paid £500,000 promised by FCDO until April 2022. The NGO was due to receive the money in July of this year. It later released more information in an evidence submission to the U.K. Parliament. May 24, 2021 — A project on male engagement in child health and nutrition in Kenya has been cut by about 50% for 2021-22, according to Women and Children First. The total project budget was £186,068, but a spokesperson for the charity says exact details on the size of the cut are unavailable. “More children will be malnourished and starving” as a result, says CEO Mikey Rosato. May 20, 2021 — The U.K. Embassy in Indonesia announces the closure of the Green Economic Growth for Papua program, which helped prevent deforestation. May 19, 2021 — The U.K. donates 42% less to the Rohingya crisis response, donating just £27.6 million to the Joint Response Plan. The U.K. gave £117 million in 2019. May 19, 2021 — NGO Amref reports ”significant” cuts to its health programs in Africa. Amref knows some programs will have to be cut or canceled by 80%, but don’t have clarity from FCDO which. May 18, 2021 — The Impact Programme, focused on impact investing in Africa, has been cut by at least 75%, sources tell Devex. May 11, 2021 — NGOs running Promoting Sustainable Partnerships for Empowered Resilience, the “largest climate resilience building project in Malawi,” were told that their contract would be terminated because of the cuts, according to evidence submitted to the U.K. Parliament. May 10, 2021 — A £13 million project providing health care services in remote areas of Bangladesh is entirely canceled “with immediate effect,” according to Concern Worldwide (UK). The cut means the project cannot respond to an emerging outbreak of diarrheal disease, so "it is likely that this decision to cut funding will result in preventable deaths," according to the charity. May 6, 2021 — Active female empowerment projects in Nigeria and Afghanistan are to be closed, according to Women for Women International. “In 20 years of working for NGOs in Nigeria, I have never encountered a situation like this, where a funder commits to multi-year funding and then reneges on their promise part-way through,” says Bukola Onyishi, Women for Women International-Nigeria country director. Read more from Onyishi about the cuts here. May 6, 2021 — FCDO cuts 50% of funding to Bond, the network for U.K. NGOs. May 5, 2021 — The government could slash nutrition spending by 79%, according to a Save the Children analysis endorsed by major nutrition focused NGOs. May 4, 2021 — King’s College London announces “swingeing cuts” to the Saving Lives program in Sierra Leone, which enabled the country’s ambulance and referral service, according to Laura Hucks, director of King's Global Health Partnerships. She writes: “Those who suffered most were the women and children requiring emergency care. There is no question that there were fatalities as a result.” A project to improve care for 15,000 pregnant women and their babies has been canceled, as is a project to install solar power in operating theaters in Democratic Republic of Congo. May 4, 2021 — The Mines Advisory Group announces its funding will be cut by nearly 50%. Programs in the Middle East are especially hard hit, with all funding withdrawn from Lebanon. May 3, 2021 — The U.K. cuts funding to UN Women — the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — by around 60%, from £12.5 million to £5 million for 2021. May 1, 2021 — UNICEF announces the government will cut its core funding by 60%, from £40 million to £16 million. May 1, 2021 — United Nations Development Program Assistant Secretary General Ulrika Modeer tells Sky News she knew of cuts of around 60% to the agency’s central budget, down to £22 million from £55 million. “The funds lost could have helped 1.2 million people to have better access to basic services; 350,000 people in crisis-affected countries to get a job or better livelihood; 280,000 people to gain access to justice; and 23 million hectares of land and marine habitats be protected, improved or restored,” according to a statement. UNDP’s country offices are expecting further cuts to program budgets. April 30, 2021 — The U.K. government cancels several funds focused on the work of smaller organizations. A trustee of the Small International Development Charities Network says “the government has wiped out support for small charities.” The canceled funds are: • Small Charities Challenge Fund (including a program educating child laborers in Bangladesh, another set to educate homeless girls in Uganda, and a program to educate children with special needs in Tanzania, and plans to set up a helpline for carers of disabled children in Nepal and build a A&E department in a rural Zanzibar hospital). • Community Partnerships grant. • U.K. Aid Connect. • U.K. Aid Direct Impact, with active programs given 90 days to close, including a pre-primary education program in Tanzania run by Children in Crossfire, education projects in Nepal and Democratic Republic of Congo run by Street Child, agricultural development projects in Ghana, Uganda, and Ethiopia, and training young refugees in Uganda. A Twitter thread documenting further closures has been published by the SIDCN. April 30, 2021 — FCDO cancels £12 million conflict resolution projects in Nigeria, Myanmar, and Central African Republic, according to Conciliation Resources. April 29, 2021 — Funding to UNAIDS cut by 83%, from £15 million to £2.5 million. April 29, 2021 — Funding to neglected tropical diseases hit by a 90% cut amounting to £150 million. April 28, 2021 — Funding to the United Nations Population Fund supplies program cut by 85%, from an agreed £154 million to £23 million. Family planning services around the world are dependent on the low-cost commodities the program supplied. April 28, 2021 — Government officials estimate bilateral funding for water, sanitation, and hygiene programs will be cut by 80% on the £176 million spent in 2019, according to a leaked document. A 64% cut on WASH spending overall (including multilateral spending) is also predicted. April 28, 2021 — U.K. aid to African countries is expected to be cut by around 66%, according to NGO analysis, The Guardian reports. April 28, 2021 — The Tropical Health and Education Trust cancels UK Aid Direct Impact projects — worth £3 million — in Somalia, the breakaway region of Somaliland, and Uganda as a result of the cuts. April 27, 2021 — Funding to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative cut by 95%, from £100 million to £5 million. April 27, 2021 — The heavily aid-reliant South Sudanese government receives a letter from FCDO announcing aid cuts without giving full details of what is affected, according to Sky News. An unnamed NGO leader later estimates U.K. aid to South Sudan has been reduced by 55% in total. Emergency food aid sees a 30% cut, and the Health Pooled Fund budget — which supports primary care — loses £6.9 million. The £120 million Humanitarian Assistance and Resilience in South Sudan program is also “indefinitely delayed.” A £460,000 teacher training program run by Windle Trust is also reportedly canceled, and other programs likely are too — but the British Embassy warns NGOs against “any interaction with the media,” according to Sky News, despite the government previously saying aid workers are free to speak out against the aid cuts. April 26, 2021 — The Tropical Health and Education Trust cancels the £7 million UK Health Partnership Fund in Myanmar as a result of the cuts. April 23, 2021 — Aid funding for education cut by more than 40%, according to an analysis by the Center for Global Development think tank. April 23, 2021 — Funding totaling £27.5 million is cut from the UK Partnerships for Health Systems program, according to the Tropical Health and Education Trust. Founded by THET and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the program would have seen National Health Service staffers train 78,000 health workers in lower-income countries, and it has already helped train 100,000 such workers in the last decade. THET says the cut includes £5 million for a nurse and midwife training program in which NHS staffers provide instruction on trauma and critical care, community mental health, and neonatal clinical care in South Asia and Africa. April 23, 2021 — FCDO’s written statement stated that certain Civil Society programmes would be protected as part of their commitment to open societies and conflict resolution. However, the Volunteering for Development grant, awarded to VSO, was cut from £16 million to £9 million over a 12-month period. The cuts will force the organization to drastically reduce programs, which will mean that VSO’s work on Covid-19 will cease entirely in 10 of the 18 countries where they are operational. April 15, 2021 — Cancellation of the Oxford Policy Fellowship, which placed legal advisors in long term roles with the governments of low-income countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. April 13, 2021 — Saferworld, a peace-building organization, announces cuts to its work in Myanmar. April 9, 2021 — Funding to the Royal Society cut by 67%, from £25.1 million to £8.1 million. Programs affected: • Future Leaders – African Independent Research fellowships. Only 30 of 90 fellows, working on issues including global health and climate change, will be funded for another year and previous cohorts will not have funding renewed. • A letter from Royal Society president, Sir Adrian Smith, to politicians, said: “Medical research charities … are projecting a shortfall in research spend of between £252 and £368 million in 2020-21 alone. Alongside other pressures on the R&D system, without urgent intervention, many critical research programmes and jobs are at risk.” April 7, 2021 — The HALO Trust ends demining work in Syria. April 1, 2021 — Funding for the human rights, democracy, and rules-based international system program is halved, from £17.66 million in 2019-2020 to £8.5 million in 2020-2021. The government says the cut was made before the 0.7% cut to prioritize COVID-19 response. March 30, 2021 — The U.K. cuts its assistance to Syria by 32% at an international pledging conference, pledging just £205 million to the war ravaged country. Compared to 2019, when the country donated £400 million, the amount represents a cut of nearly half over two years. Programs affected: • Syria Resilience Programme led by CARE UK, which has been cut by 70% since 2019. According to the NGO the cut means less than 100,000 people will be helped by the program, down from 550,000. • A program providing access to legal services for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, led by IRC. March 19, 2021 — International Planned Parenthood Federation Director General Dr. Alvaro Bermejo tells Devex cuts to the orgnization’s services could mean 7.5 million additional unintended pregnancies, 2.7 million unsafe abortions, and 22,000 maternal deaths worldwide over the next year. March 17, 2021 — Aid to 10 U.K. Space Agency projects run under the International Partnership Programme are canceled, according to the BBC. The projects included one which used satellite data to map mosquito breeding areas and another which studied vulnerability to flooding. March 11, 2021 — U.K. Research and Innovation, a public body, announces its aid budget allocation had been reduced by nearly half, to £125 million in 2021, leaving a £120 million gap. That makes it “unavoidable that some grants will need to be terminated.” UKRI ran the Global Challenges Research Fund, which was focused on addressing the sustainable development goals in lower income countries. Programs affected: • Research and development into technology to purify dirty water. (The Guardian) • Mapping natural disaster risk in lower income communities. (The Guardian) • Research and development for infectious disease diagnostics. (Independent) • A refugee integration project run by Professor Alison Phipps. (Devex interview) • Reducing homicide in Latin America. (The Guardian) • Migration for Development and Equality. • Economic development via agriculture in Colombia. • Peace building in Kosovo. • Supporting universities in Fiji, Kenya, Mozambique, and Brazil to research climate change responses. (Climate Home) • COVID-19 genomics research. (The Guardian) • Education Justice and Memory Network, whose funding was cut by £308,000 — around a third — for 2021-22, according to principal investigator Julia Paulson. • One Health Poultry Hub — a project surveilling livestock for health risks — whose funding was cut by 70%. (The Guardian) • The ARISE consortium, focused on health inequalities for marginalized populations in low- and middle-income countries, was hit by a 68% amounting to £1.9 million. • The One Health Regional Network for the Horn of Africa. (Evidence submission to U.K. Parliament) • A project monitoring COVID-19 in refugee communities in Uganda (Evidence submission to U.K. Parliament) • A project monitoring malaria parasites for drug resistance. (Evidence submission to U.K. Parliament) • A project focused on improving disease diagnostics networks in Africa (Evidence submission to U.K. Parliament) March 8, 2021 — The International Rescue Committee announces 60% cuts to a program in Sierra Leone that reached 3 million people with family planning outreach and sensitization. A planned program in Lebanon, aimed at providing protection services to 107,000 people was also canceled before it could begin. March 6, 2021 — The Open Democracy website reports that a leaked FCDO document shows officials are discussing deep cuts to numerous fragile and poverty stricken states. According to the website, officials were mulling 63% cuts to Libya, 60% cuts to Somalia and DRC, 58% cuts to Nigeria, 90% cuts to the Sahel region (from £340 million to £23 million), and 59% cuts to South Sudan. March 1, 2021 — STiR Education, which helps build schooling systems, is told that its contract with FCDO would be canceled, at a cost of £828,000. The group’s CEO, Giresh Menon, said FCDO officials told him not to discuss the cut in public. March 1, 2021 — The U.K. reduces its funding to Yemen — dubbed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis — by nearly 60%, pledging £87 million at a donor conference, down from £214 million total donations to Yemen the previous year. Feb. 28, 2021 — Voluntary Service Overseas have been forced to close their international volunteer program, the International Citizen Service, worth £15.3 million annually. The program has enabled over 40,000 volunteers to work in 32 countries over the past decade, according to VSO. FCDO cited coronavirus-related overseas travel restrictions as the reason for closing the program, but there are no known plans to restart once travel opens up. Sept. 1, 2020 — In the first reported casualty of the U.K. aid cuts, a £12.5 million girls’ education program called Investing In Adolescent Girls in Rwanda is canceled by the government.