The UK has ended two major programmes to protect girls from female genital mutilation (FGM), The Independent has learned, despite successfully running for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council on a pledge to tackle the practice.
The programmes have been cancelled amid deep cuts to the UK foreign aid which will see 40 per cent slashed from the budget by 2029 in a bid to shift money towards defence. Projects protecting women and girls’ rights have been particularly hard-hit.
