The UK used to proudly lead the world on international aid – now we don’t save lives that we should
TThe decision to cut the UK’s contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is a mistake. Hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths are now expected to occur.
Our support for the Global Fund represents the best of Britain, working with other countries to deliver value for money. Thanks to our funding, the Global Fund has made extraordinary progress in the fight against the most common preventable diseases. Millions of lives have been saved by strengthening health systems in the poorest countries. We’re closer than ever to eliminating Aida.
But at this crucial moment, the UK became the first host country to cut its contribution.
It can sometimes be tempting to be skeptical of the UN and multilateral funding. They can be remote, overly bureaucratic, and disconnected from the local realities that make aid truly effective. But the Global Fund has proven to be what we all expect from the aid sector. Since its founding in 2002, it has saved 70 million lives and provided outstanding value for money. This is not a charity. This is partnership. My time working in the field in Kenya made one thing clear: Programs are successful when communities are designed as partners, not recipients. The Global Fund combines global scale with local knowledge. It works because disease elimination requires both.
The disappointing cut comes after the UK gave a 20 per cent discount to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, earlier this year. A pattern emerges: We retreat from the programs that produce the best results. Cuts to multilateral programs aren’t just shrinking spreadsheets in New York and Geneva. They trickle down, hitting hardest on the programs and the people who can least afford it.
Women and girls will pay the biggest price. They already face a disproportionate burden of these diseases, especially HIV. Discrimination, unequal access to education, health care, water and sanitation, and gender-based violence increase infections and create barriers to treatment. At a time when women’s rights are under attack around the world, Britain needs to stand against this tide.
We’ve seen this happen before. When the Conservative government recklessly cut aid in 2021, women and girls were the first to be abandoned. Clinics were closed. Reproductive health programs have disappeared. School initiatives came to an abrupt halt. The most vulnerable were left behind not because their needs had changed, but because there was no plan.
Now the same uncertainty is back. The development budget has been cut again and we are still waiting for a clear strategy to emerge. Last year former development minister Annelise Dodds laid out her vision for Britain’s future in a well-received speech at Chatham House. A lot has changed since then, but the need for strategic thinking has not. As the new foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, considers how to implement the temporary aid cut announced by the Prime Minister, one question remains: Where will the ax fall? Without a plan, we stand to repeat the mistakes of 2021.
The upcoming Budget is a chance to change course. Britain needs what we’ve been missing for years: a long-term plan. A clear timetable for investing 0.7 percent of national income in international development. Ending the use of overseas aid to finance refugee accommodation in Britain. If directed correctly, this investment will serve our national interests, preventing the spread of conflict and disease to keep the UK safe.
Britain once proudly led the world in international development because we embraced a first principle: cooperation and compassion are the expression of strength. Our power and purpose must extend beyond our borders. Co-hosting the Global Fund’s 8th Renewal event with South Africa on 21 November sends a strong signal. But leadership is not measured by the conferences we host. It is measured by the lives we save and those we fail to save when we could.
Fleur Anderson is a member of the parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, former North Island Minister (2024-5) and Labor MP for Putney.
This article was produced as part of The Independent. Rethinking Global Aid project
