Sierra Leone almost entirely axed from UK aid budget: ‘Lives of mothers and babies are at stake’
The UK has been accused of “quietly” giving almost all aid money to Sierra Leone, including a £35 million grant for maternal and newborn health; This is the first example of a country emerging as a loser in the government’s plans to shrink the global development budget by 40 percent.
The UK-funded Sierra Leone program provided essential medicine and training in hospitals, as well as working to ensure access to blood and testing for preventable causes of maternal death, such as preeclampsia (a serious complication that causes high blood pressure).
The organisation, run by a consortium of charities including Concern Worldwide and Helen Keller International, will see its funding cut from £35 million to £1 million by 2027 before it closes.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has signaled that some countries will stop receiving aid altogether, but few details have emerged so far. But Pete Baker, deputy director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development think tank, said: Independent He said aid to countries was being cut “quite quietly behind the scenes.”
“Given that lives are at stake, you would hope that they would be willing to be more transparent about some of these cuts,” he said.
With a much smaller aid budget, the FCDO is prioritizing spending on major international funds such as the global vaccine alliance Gavi and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. There are still cuts to these funds, but on a smaller scale than the 40 percent total cut from the aid budget.
The government also promised to continue its contribution to humanitarian interventions in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. After spending in these areas, there is little money left that can be sent directly to other countries in need.
Another part of the Sierra Leone grant provided by Unicef, which includes the purchase of essential medicines for pregnancy and childbirth, will end in March, raising questions about how the Sierra Leone government will handle the sudden spending.
Unicef also provided special care baby units for sick or premature newborns.
Suzanne Wooster, Unicef spokesperson for Sierra Leone, said: “Reducing funding for newborn and child health could lead to disruption of essential services at a critical time. Unicef continues to work closely with the Sierra Leone government and partners to mitigate impacts and preserve gains for children and newborns.”
“We understand there are some trade-offs here,” said Mr. Baker of the Center for Global Development. “But this is one of the poorest countries in the world.
“There are truly terrible maternal and child mortality rates.”
The FCDO was expected to publish more details in the autumn about where benefit cuts would fall over the next three years, but this has been delayed – possibly until next year. Independent he understands.
An FCDO spokesperson said: “The UK is committed to defending and promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights, and we will continue to work with international partners to support women and girls.” But they added that the ministry was “clear that we need to modernize our approach to development to reflect the changing global context”.
They added that the UK had invested more than £187.9 million in Sierra Leone’s health system over the last decade.
Mr Baker said the UK “has a long history of leadership in global health and quite good transparency in some of its decision-making processes” and it would be “a shame” to lose that.
He added that Sierra Leone “is a very high priority for UK aid and has received some very serious cuts”. “I think this will help the public understand.”
This article was produced as part of The Independent. Rethinking Global Aid project
