UK Aid Cuts Endanger Women and Girls 

This week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the UK will make significant cuts to international aid over the next two years, endangering women and girls around the world.  

These cuts couldn’t come at a worse time. Since the Trump administration dismantled USAID, health systems worldwide have reached a breaking point. Human rights are being rolled back, and life-saving development programs have ground to a halt.  

With so much at stake, now is not the moment to step back from funding reproductive healthcare, which gives women and girls control of their futures in a deeply uncertain time. We urge the United Kingdom to continue its leadership defending sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

Simon Cooke, CEO of MSI Reproductive Choices, said: 

“It is the poorest people and communities who will pay the price of these cuts, from women on the frontline of the climate crisis in Senegal to survivors of gender-based violence in Afghanistan.” 

“While we recognize that the UK government is having to navigate difficult choices and make many hard decisions, cuts to reproductive health shouldn’t be one of them. UK aid spending to support women and girls is almost half of what it was pre-pandemic, and any further cuts will put lives at risk and undo decades of progress.”  

“The UK has been a proud defender and supporter of sexual and reproductive health and rights and are one of the few governments who are willing to speak out on these issues. In these unprecedented times, UK global leadership is needed more than ever.”