Committees

IDC Chair urges FCDO not to make more cuts to aid to Afghanistan as budgets are set to be announced

27 March 2023

Letter published as Save the Children announces funding cuts to programmes for women and girls in Afghanistan.

In a letter to the International Development Committee, the Minister for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the United Nations, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, stated that ‘no programmes have been closed as the result of the Taliban edict on women working for NGOs’.

However, he does name projects provided by the International Rescue Committee and Save the Children that have been closed as a result of a reduction in the Afghanistan Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocation for 2022-23.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) aid budget for Afghanistan for the forthcoming financial year is due to be announced imminently. Save the Children has already confirmed that one of its programmes, which provides support to women and girls, will face a £6 million cut.

Chair's comment

The Chair of the International Development Committee, Sarah Champion MP, said: 

“The Committee’s scrutiny of the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan continues.

“As we publish this letter, it’s emerged that the Government has cut almost £6 million in funding to a programme in Afghanistan run by Save the Children which supports vulnerable women and girls who face exploitation, violence and the prospect of early marriage. The funding cuts may force the programme to close entirely. This is deeply concerning.

“We have recently also launched an inquiry into sexual and reproductive health. It is not clear how cuts like these tally with the FCDO’s stated commitments to women and girls. As the FCDO gears up to announcing aid budgets for the forthcoming financial year, we will be looking for better news – especially for women and girls.”

The letter follows Lord Ahmad’s appearance at the International Development Committee in February when he answered questions about the situation for women in girls in Afghanistan.

Lord Ahmad also set out a ‘consistent set of operating principles’ that humanitarian partners working in Afghanistan agreed in February, following the Taliban’s edict on banning women from working as aid workers in the country. The Minister writes that he has been working with the Afghanistan team to formalise the principles and ‘should be in a position to approve them soon’, adding that ‘Afghanistan remains one of the most complex operating environments in the world for the humanitarian and development community.’ The four principles are set out in the Minister’s letter, published here.

The letter restates the Foreign Secretary’s commitment that at least 50% of the beneficiaries reached with UK ODA in Afghanistan would be women and girls. This target was achieved in the financial year 2021/22, says the Minister, and the FCDO is tracking that target for 2022/23 closely through third party monitoring, progress reports and other assurances.

Further information

Image: Crown Copyright