More than 60 major UK and international charities have called for the government to reverse funding cuts that they warn will ensure the “worst aid budget for women and girls on record”.
In a joint statement organised by Care International and signed by Oxfam, Save the Children and World Vision, the 61 charities say they are “deeply alarmed” by the “shameful proposal” to shift money away from projects that specifically support women and girls by scrapping dedicated spending on gender equality. The charities estimate that the closure of just one UK-funded violence prevention project, the “What Works” programme, would put more than one million women and children at increased risk of abuse worldwide. One charity chief executive called the cuts “dangerous”.
