Policy Updates

On September 15, 2025, a UN Women report revealed that progress on women's rights is stagnating and regressing due to conflict, aid cuts, and a backlash against gender equality, and called on governments at the UN General Assembly in New York to commit to renewed action, highlighting that the US$420 billion needed annually to advance gender equality is a fraction of the US$2.7 trillion spent on the military.

The report, a gender snapshot monitoring progress on the SDGs, found that 676 million women and girls lived near deadly conflict in 2024, the highest number since the 1990s. Women are also more likely to be affected by rising food insecurity. The report projects that climate change could push an additional 158.3 million women and girls into extreme poverty by 2050.

Director of UN Women’s policy division, Sarah Hendriks, contrasted the US$2.7 trillion in annual military spending with the estimated US$420 billion needed to advance gender equality. The report also noted a digital gender divide, which if addressed, could lift 30 million women and girls out of poverty by 2050 and generate a US$1.5 trillion increase in global GDP by 2030. UN Women is calling for renewed commitments at the UN General Assembly, 30 years after the Beijing Declaration.

On August 31, 2025, the UK government announced GBP3 million (US$4 million) in new funding through the UNFPA to provide life-saving support for pregnant women, new mothers, and girls in Gaza.

The announcement came amid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis and famine in parts of Gaza. Minister for the FCDO David Lammy stated that the healthcare system has been decimated and called for an immediate ceasefire and a surge in humanitarian assistance. The UK government urged the Israeli government to allow sufficient aid into Gaza to address the man-made catastrophe.

The new funding is part of a GBP60 million (US$82 million) humanitarian funding package for the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the financial year. The support, delivered through the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency ( UNFPA), will deploy midwives and deliver emergency medical supplies. UNFPA Arab States Regional Director Laila Baker noted that the contribution will support mobile maternity units

On August 13, 2025, reports indicate the UK ministers are considering eliminating their commitment to ensure 80% of bilateral development funding focuses on gender equality by 2030, a portfolio that provisionally totaled US$15.1 billion in 2024.

The commitment was made by the previous Conservative government in 2023 and reaffirmed by Labour ministers in March 2025, despite overall development funding cuts from 0.5% to 0.3% of GNI. Foreign Secretary David Lammy stated in July 2025 that the government would review past decisions. A FCDO spokesperson confirmed that a review of existing commitments was underway but reiterated that women and girls remain a fundamental priority for the department.

Critics from organizations including Bond and Plan International UK warned that removing the 80% target could compound the negative effects of recent US rollbacks on funding for gender and diversity programs. Sarah Champion, Chair of the IDC, emphasized that UK commitments are a lifeline for vulnerable women and girls, particularly when other donors are retreating.

On July 27, 2025, the foreign and defense ministers of Australia and the UK issued a joint statement in Darwin, Australia, reaffirming their shared commitment to the WPS agenda.

The statement, released ahead of the 25^th anniversary of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, noted that the promise of the WPS agenda remains unfulfilled. The ministers expressed concern that women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by conflict and that their exclusion from peace processes prevents lasting security. The nations also highlighted their concern about the use of conflict-related sexual violence as a tactic of war.

Both nations committed to the full implementation of the agenda, including to:

• Promote women’s leadership in all areas of peace and security;
• Support women-led organizations and human rights defenders in conflict settings;
• Strengthen accountability mechanisms to address sexual and gender-based violence; and
• Collaborate internationally to advocate for the WPS agenda.

On July 22, 2025, the UK's FCDO released a self-assessment which revealed that 2025-2026 health spending will be cut by nearly 46% to GBP527 million (US716 million), with significant impacts on women's health programs.

The reduction is part of a larger plan to decrease the UK's ODA budget from 0.5% of its GNI to just 0.3%. The assessment indicated spending reductions in Africa for women’s health, health systems, and emergency response.

CSOs expressed concern over the lack of detail on specific program cuts, including those for SRHR. An analysis by the Guttmacher Institute showed a 30% cut in family planning assistance could cause 1.1 million more unintended pregnancies. Further cuts are expected, potentially decreasing the aid budget by over GBP3 billion (US$4.1 billion) by 2028.

On July 22, 2025, the UK's FCDO published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2024 to 2025, which CSO Bond warns of a concerning outlook for communities most in need of assistance.

The document, which contains forward-looking budgets for the current financial year (2025-26) and reported figures for UK ODA spending for 2024-25, outlines the first reductions in a phased plan to lower the ODA budget to 0.3% of GNI by 2027. According to Bond's analysis, the FCDO’s programme ODA budget is set to fall from GBP9.3 billion (US$12.6 billion) in 2024/25 to GBP8.7 billion (US$11.8 billion) in 2025/26. It will decrease further to GBP6.8 billion (US$9.2 billion) in 2026/27 and GBP6.2 billion (US$8.4 billion) in 2027/28, a total decrease of over GBP3 billion (US$4.1 billion).

Bond's analysis highlights that the cuts will disproportionately affect the poorest countries. Bilateral assistance to Africa is being cut by 12% (GBP184 million or US$250 million) in the current financial year. Funding is also being reduced for several countries facing major humanitarian crises, including Ethiopia (25% reduction), South Sudan (23%), and Somalia (27%). Budgets for Sudan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, both stated government priorities, are also seeing cuts of 18% and 21%, respectively. The FCDO has pointed to a GBP85 million (US$115 million) crisis reserve, but Bond questions why previous spending levels were not maintained given the scale of the crises.

Thematic funding is also facing significant reductions. Funding for health ill be cut by 46% (GBP448 million or US$603 million), and the budget for Education, Gender & Equality will be reduced by 42% (GBP206 million or US$278 million). Bond's equality impact assessment found that 11 of the 13 programs proposed for closure were focused on gender equality or disability inclusion, and that the cuts will likely have negative impact on children.

On December 11, 2024, the UK announced a new GBP5 million (US$6 million) program with the RBM Partnership to End Malaria to boost global efforts to end malaria epidemic, stimulate growth, protect women and girls, and renew the push to eliminate malaria by 2030.

The announcement followed the launch of the WHO’s World Malaria Report 2024, which outlined that malaria remains a serious global health challenge and saw an increase of cases in 2023.

The UK’s pledge will support the RBM Partnership to End Malaria as it works to galvanize global leaders in the fight against malaria. UK is slated to include tackling resistance to malaria treatments and supporting efforts to control malaria in Cameroon, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda.

On December 9, 2024, the UK and other European countries accounced they would suspend the process of asylum applications from Syrians after the fall of the Assad regime in Damascus.

A spokesperson from the UK Home Office issued a statement temporarily pausing decisions on Syrian asylum claims whilst he government undergoes an assessment of the current situation.

The decision was made only one day after rebel forces seized the capital and the president fled to Russia. The impact on IDRCs in the UK and other parts of Europe remain to be seen.

On December 3, 2024, UK Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward made a speech at the FfD4 Second Preparatory event, highlighting the need to focus on international financial architecture reforms, and foster a bigger, better, and fairer financial system.

The FfD4 outcome hopes to build upon the Addis Ababa Action Agenda’s focus on an enabling environment, particularly towards women’s economic empowerment.

It will focus on vulnerability and the countries at risk of being left behind in order to improve shock responsiveness and progress State Contingent Debt Clauses and Disaster Risk Financing.

BII also announced a US$30 million investment in InfraCredit, to promote local currency financing to support the clean energy transition.

On November 25, 2024, the UK announced a new partnership with three women’s rights organizations in Kenya and South Africa to develop new preventative strategies to tackle online violence and abuse against women and girls.

The What Works to Prevent Violence: Impact at Scale program is a GBP68 million (US$88 million) program working to pioneer and scale-up effective approaches to ending GBV. The first phase of the program showed that UK can help reduce violence in homes, schools, and communities by 50% in under 3 years.

The program has recently awarded three new grants to women’s rights organizations:

• To CREAW in Kenya, in order to pioneer the use of media in preventing violence;
• To Soul City Institute in South Africa, to pioneer the use of mass media in preventing violence; and
• To Reach Digital Health in South Africa, to pioneer the use of technology such as chatbots in preventing violence.

The UK government is also funding a project called Safe Online: Preventing Technology-Facilitated GBV, which will be backed by more than GBP27 million (US$35 million) in UK-government funding; it is intended to help to support survivors of online violence and abuse, gather data to strengthen our understanding of this emerging threat, and minimize women’s exposure to harmful content by working with national regulators.