Alarmed at the way overseas aid cuts are impacting women and girls, the National Council of Women GB calls upon governments and the international community to ensure that significant international development aid is provided for women and girls. Past NCWGB resolutions emphasise the need for women and girls’ education and protection from female genital mutilation and cutting. NCWGB therefore calls for:

• Continued focus on equality in all overseas aid programmes
• meaningful participation of women’s organisations in decision-making on humanitarian aid budgets
• funding for girls’ education and for women-led organisations, including setting up emergency funding mechanisms

Following up NCWGB’s strong concern about slow progress on ending female genital mutilation and cutting, NCWGB also calls for:

• inclusion of FGM/C in international development agenda and gender equality strategies; ensuring it is prominently and consistently reflected in the next global development framework to succeed SDGS – to receive the visibility and commitment needed to accelerate its elimination
• Funding for community education and initiatives in regions where Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) remains prevalent, with the objective of eradicating this severe form of violence against women and girls
• prioritising girls’ rights in laws and policies, involving survivors in policy development and amplifying their voices.

Background

Women-led and women’s rights organisations are on the frontlines of today’s humanitarian crises—but many are at risk of disappearing. As global needs rise due to conflict, climate change, and displacement, deep cuts to foreign aid are threatening organisations that provide life-saving services for women and girls.

In March 2025, UN Women conducted a global survey to understand how funding reductions are affecting local women-led groups in crisis settings. The survey reached 411 organizations across 44 countries. The results are alarming: 90 per cent of respondents said their operations were financially impacted, nearly half expect to shut down within six months, and most have already reduced staff or suspended key services.

A critical need:

FGM/C constitutes a severe violation of the human rights of women and girls, causing enduring physical pain and psychological distress. FGM/C is the cause of entirely preventable 44,000 deaths of girls and young women in the countries with high prevalence in Africa each year. Because of population growth in the affected areas, outgrowing efforts to prevent it and aggravated by conflict and social instability, increasing number of girls are becoming at risk of being attacked in this way.

Besides FGM/C directly undermining the bodily integrity, health, confidence, and wellbeing of women and girls, it also limits their contribution to society, and obstructs the development of thriving economies and democratic societies. More than 12,000 girls a day are at risk, and rising, and there are over 230 million survivors of this scourge which deprives them of the human right to be free from torture and cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment. Most are in Africa, followed by Asia, then the Middle East. The resulting physical and psychological damage costs the health sector $1.4billion in just under 10 countries.

At a breaking point: The impact of foreign aid cuts on women’s organizations in humanitarian crises worldwide | Publications | UN Women – Headquarters

Proposer: Orchid Project, NCWGB Associate

Seconder: Jackie Taylor, NCWGB Member & Anna O’Driscoll, NCWGB Network 18-30 Member

Proposer Speech – Ann Davison (on behalf of Orchid Project)

Dear colleagues,

We meet today at a moment when the rights of women and girls – and indeed many progressive agendas – are facing pushback across the globe. We have seen multiple examples of that in the last 2 years, one of them notably being the efforts to reverse the ban on female genital mutilation in The Gambia. At the same time, we are witnessing severe funding cuts by key donors, cuts that are undermining decades of progress and hard-won achievements. Women-led organisations, who are on the frontlines of crisis response, are at risk of disappearing just when they are needed the most.

It is against this backdrop, that this resolution is brought forward. The resolution reaffirms our collective commitment to ensuring that women and girls remain at the centre of international development and that the work to support that is adequately funded. This includes equality in all programmes, meaningful participation of women’s and girls’ organisations in decision-making, and adequate funding for girls’ education and for women-led groups, with emergency funding mechanisms in place.

The resolution also places a particular focus on female genital mutilation and cutting. FGM/C is one of the most severe violations of human rights and one of the worst forms of gender-based violence. Each year, 44,000 girls and young women die as a direct result of it in high-prevalence countries in Africa. More than 12,000 girls a day are at risk, and over 230 million women and girls are living with its consequences in 94 countries. The pain, trauma, and lifelong health consequences are entirely preventable – yet they persist, rooted in deep-seated patriarchy and sustained by systemic failure to prioritise, fund, and commit the necessary resources.

Already drastically under-funded (with the funding gap close to $3billion), FGM/C prevention and response programmes are at risk of further de-prioritisation in the face of recent foreign aid budget cuts and competing global priorities. Therefore, we must recognise FGM for what it truly is — a global health emergency and a pandemic of violence against women and girls. Until we do so, it will continue to be sidelined and under-resourced, while we need to ensure it is prioritised on the global development agenda and embedded in the framework to succeed SDGs.

This resolution is a call to governments and the international community not to turn their backs on women and girls, but to stand with them in true allyship, solidarity, and support at this critical time of need.