Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much his Department is reducing programme funding to the Education, Gender and Equality Directorate by; and what assessment his Department has made of the impact of that reduction on women and girls in the Global South.

Our 2025/26 Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme allocations reflect the first step as we begin to pivot to a lower ODA budget, the ministerial line-by-line strategic review of our ODA programming, and our commitment to protect planned humanitarian spend and live contract agreements. An Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) - which considers impacts on women and girls - was an essential part of how the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) made these decisions. The EIA also tracks spend in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The final 2025/26 ODA programme allocations were published in the Annual Report & Accounts on 22 July alongside the EIA. As confirmed by the EIA, the allocations process for 2025/26 has protected against disproportionate impacts on equalities.

The FCDO is committed to empowering women and girls globally and remaining a world leader on championing safe, inclusive education, including in the Global South.