UNITED KINGDOM — The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has withdrawn the tender for the £45 million Strengthening Higher Education for Female Empowerment (SHEFE) programme. Announced two years ago by the Conservative government, the initiative aimed to increase access to higher education for 1 million students across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

An FCDO spokesperson said the aid cuts were implemented to fund an increase in defense spending. "National security is the first duty of this government," the spokesperson said. "This does not mean stepping back from our values – protecting women and girls is now a Foreign Office priority."

Bambos Charalambous, Labour MP and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Education, expressed concern. "I'm alarmed that a flagship higher education programme designed to empower women and girls and help them achieve their potential appears to have been scrapped because of the aid cuts," Charalambous said. "It is vital to start thinking now about how to build back from the aid cuts to save similar projects." Girls who benefit from higher education are up to six times less likely to marry as children and are less likely to experience violence from a partner.

Joseph Nhan-O'Reilly, co-founder of the International Parliamentary Network for Education, criticized the decision. "The government talks up its commitment to women and girls but at every turn it denies the world's most marginalised girls the thing that everyone agrees has the biggest impact on their lives and that of their communities: access to higher education," Nhan-O'Reilly said. "We've been absolutely flabbergasted and devastated by these cuts happening under Labour. They're clearly a break in the manifesto. This was a huge mistake and betrayal of the sector."

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced last year that the UK aid budget would be reduced from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% in 2027. The reduction led to the resignation of Anneliese Dodds, then international development minister. The 0.3% level would mark the lowest since records began, compared to the UN target of 0.7%.

The FCDO Girls' Education Department lost 51% of its funding. Earlier this year, the department canceled the tender for a planned programme in South Sudan with a budget of £150 million. Educational work was also cut in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. In 2021, the Home Office blocked new study visas for applicants from Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar, and Cameroon. Girls have been barred from secondary education in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control in 2021.