Women’s charities sound alarm as aid cuts hit equality spending

LONDON – Aid cuts could put more women and girls at risk of domestic violence, unsafe abortions and dropping out of school as rich nations’ spending to fight gender inequality stagnates for the first time in a decade, charities and policy experts say.

Countries such as Britain, the Netherlands and Japan pledged less money to tackle gender violence in 2020/21, and committed a smaller share of total aid to gender equality programmes for the first time since 2010, a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows.

As major donors such as Sweden and Germany reassess their aid spending, campaigners are warning of the potential consequences.Millions of women and girls in poorer nations could be put at risk of unsafe abortion, domestic violence or teen pregnancy, experts say.

“When gender equality funding is reduced, there are real-life implications on the provision of health services, particularly, sexual and reproductive health,” said Foteini Papagioti, senior policy advisor at the U.S.-based International Center for Research on Women (ICRW).

“So that will very likely affect women and girls in some of the poorest countries around the world,” Papagioti told Context.