Nigerian Women and Girls Bear Brunt of British and US Aid Cuts, Committee Hears

**Lead**

A parliamentary committee in Westminster has been told that women and girls in Nigeria are suffering the most severe consequences of recent funding cuts to international aid programmes by both the United Kingdom and the United States. Witnesses giving evidence to the International Development Committee (IDC) on Tuesday described a devastating impact on critical services, including protection from gender-based violence, maternal healthcare, and educational opportunities for girls, warning that years of progress are now at risk of being reversed.

**Context**

The IDC session, held on 28 October 2026, examined the effects of the UK government’s decision to reduce the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income, a policy first implemented in 2021 and maintained by successive administrations. The cuts have been compounded by significant reductions in funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has scaled back several programmes across sub-Saharan Africa as part of a broader re-evaluation of foreign aid priorities under the current US administration.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with over 220 million people, has been a major recipient of both British and American aid. The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) previously allocated substantial resources to programmes focused on girls’ education, sexual and reproductive health rights, and initiatives to combat human trafficking and child marriage. Similarly, USAID has funded large-scale projects aimed at reducing maternal mortality, which remains among the highest in the world, and supporting survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in the north-east of the country, where Boko Haram and other armed groups continue to operate.

According to evidence presented to the committee by representatives from non-governmental organisations and academic experts, the combined effect of these cuts has been a sharp reduction in the availability of safe shelters for women fleeing domestic abuse, the closure of clinics providing free antenatal care, and the suspension of community-based programmes that educate girls about their rights and provide them with skills to avoid early marriage. One witness, a senior policy adviser from a leading international charity, described the situation as a “silent emergency”, noting that while the immediate effects of the cuts are not always visible in official statistics, frontline workers are reporting a marked increase in the number of women and girls presenting with injuries from violence and complications from unsafe pregnancies.

**Analise**

The significance of this testimony extends beyond the immediate humanitarian crisis. The cuts come at a time when Nigeria is already grappling with multiple security challenges, including a persistent insurgency in the north-east, banditry in the north-west, and separatist tensions in the south-east. In such an environment, women and girls are particularly vulnerable. The reduction in funding for protection services means that many survivors of sexual violence have nowhere to turn, with local authorities often lacking the resources or political will to provide adequate support. This creates a cycle of impunity for perpetrators and further marginalises victims, undermining the rule of law and long-term stability.

Furthermore, the impact on girls’ education has long-term economic consequences. Research consistently shows that educating girls is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty, improve maternal and child health, and promote economic growth. The scaling back of UK and US programmes that support scholarships, school feeding schemes, and safe transport for girls to attend school risks reversing gains made over the past two decades. The committee heard that in some northern states, where female literacy rates are already among the lowest in the world, the withdrawal of donor funding has led to an increase in school dropouts, with many girls being married off by their families as a coping mechanism in the face of economic hardship.

The timing of the cuts is also politically sensitive. The UK government has faced sustained criticism from within its own party and from opposition MPs for prioritising domestic spending over international commitments, particularly in the wake of the cost-of-living crisis. The IDC hearing is likely to intensify pressure on ministers to reconsider the ODA budget allocation in the forthcoming spending review. Meanwhile, the US reductions are part of a broader trend of declining American engagement in multilateral development, which analysts say could create a vacuum that other powers, such as China and Russia, are eager to fill, often with less regard for human rights and gender equality.

**Fontes**

This report is based on evidence presented to the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee on 28 October 2026, including oral testimony from representatives of non-governmental organisations, academic experts, and officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Additional context has been drawn from publicly available reports by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on the humanitarian situation in Nigeria, and from published analyses by the Overseas Development Institute and the Center for Global Development regarding the impact of ODA reductions. No individuals have been named in this article in accordance with editorial policy, as the identities of witnesses were not independently verified by this publication beyond the public record of the committee proceedings.