Nigerian Women and Girls Hit Hardest by UK and US Funding Cuts, MPs Told

**Lead**

Nigerian women and girls are suffering the most severe consequences of recent funding cuts by the British and United States governments, a parliamentary committee in London was told on Wednesday. Evidence presented to the International Development Select Committee indicated that the withdrawal of financial support has led to the closure of maternity wards, the suspension of gender-based violence programmes, and a sharp reduction in access to family planning services across several Nigerian states.

**Context**

The cuts, which began in late 2025 and accelerated through 2026, follow a broader reassessment of overseas aid budgets in both London and Washington. The UK’s decision to reduce its Official Development Assistance from 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income, combined with the US administration’s sweeping freeze on foreign assistance programmes, has created a funding gap of hundreds of millions of pounds for Nigeria’s health and social protection sectors. Nigeria, which was already grappling with high maternal mortality rates and widespread insecurity in the north-east, has seen international NGOs scale back operations in several regions.

Witnesses told the committee that the impact has been disproportionately borne by women and girls. In states such as Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, where conflict has displaced millions, the closure of safe spaces for survivors of sexual violence has left many without access to psychological support or legal aid. In urban centres like Lagos and Kano, community health centres that relied on UK and US grants have stopped offering free antenatal care, forcing pregnant women to either pay for private services or go without.

**Analysis**

The evidence presented to the committee highlights a worrying trend: when aid budgets are cut, the most vulnerable populations are often the first to lose essential services. Women and girls in Nigeria face a triple burden — they are more likely to be poor, more likely to be excluded from education, and more likely to die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. The reduction in funding not only endangers lives in the short term but also undermines decades of progress in maternal health and gender equality.

Development experts who testified noted that the cuts come at a particularly critical time. Nigeria’s population is growing rapidly, and its health system is already underfunded. The loss of British and American support has forced the Nigerian government to redirect scarce domestic resources, but officials admitted that the federal budget cannot fully compensate for the shortfall. As a result, many programmes have been scaled back or terminated altogether, with women and girls bearing the immediate consequences.

The committee also heard that the funding cuts could have long-term implications for regional stability. When women are denied access to healthcare and economic opportunities, the social fabric weakens, and communities become more vulnerable to extremism and unrest. Several MPs expressed concern that the savings made by reducing aid budgets would ultimately be outweighed by the costs of increased humanitarian crises and migration pressures.

**Sources**

The information in this article is based on public testimony given before the UK Parliament’s International Development Select Committee on 29 October 2026, as well as reports from international NGOs operating in Nigeria, including Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Rescue Committee. Additional context was drawn from official statements by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the US Agency for International Development regarding their respective funding reviews.