The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)’s announcement of aid allocations for 2026/2027-2028/2029 on Thursday 19th March explain how the overall cut in aid from 0.5% to 0.3% of Gross National Income will be implemented, with bilateral programmes set to bear the brunt.
The FCDO’s own equality impact assessment says bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) has been cut more heavily than multilateral ODA, and warns of negative impacts, including for equalities-targeted and social sector spending.
For SIDA, the allocations underline both the human cost of these decisions and the impact they will have on organisations and partnerships both in Scotland and around the world.
Cathy Ratcliff, Chair of SIDA’s Board of Trustees, said:
“These allocations confirm the reality of the cuts to the aid budget announced by the UK Government last year. At a time of growing conflict, climate shocks and economic insecurity, cutting development spending is not only harmful for communities around the world, it is short-sighted for the UK too.
“Effective aid helps prevent crises from deepening, supports stability and builds the international relationships on which our shared security and prosperity depend. These decisions will also be felt here in Scotland, where organisations and partnerships with deep roots in communities around the world are facing yet more uncertainty.
“If the UK Government is serious about global leadership, it should not only protect aid, but pursue fairer solutions on debt and tax that help countries invest in their own futures.”
Chrissie Cvetković Hirst, Chair of SIDA’s Policy Committee, said:
“These cuts send the wrong message at the wrong time. There is nothing responsible about cutting preventative spending that helps keep people safe, healthy and resilient, only to pay far more once crises spiral. The latest allocations make clear that bilateral programmes will bear the brunt, with real consequences for communities who have done least to cause today’s global crises.
“The UK has benefited from an international system shaped in part by colonial exploitation and unequal power, so there is a particular responsibility not to turn away when those same inequalities continue to drive poverty, conflict and climate vulnerability. Aid and development agencies in Scotland have long sought to promote global solidarity and justice through international partnerships, an approach that matters now more than ever, and we call on governments to take the same approach.
“There must be a renewed focus on reforming the structures that keep people in poverty and exposed to conflict and climate shocks, and real determination to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Solidarity is about justice, shared responsibility and recognising that our futures are bound together.”
Reaction has also been coming in from SIDA members, the wider sector, and other commentators.
Rommily Greenhill, Chief Executive of UK development network Bond, said:
“Today’s allocations show the harsh reality of Labour’s cuts to the UK aid budget, the steepest in the G7 – lives lost, the UK’s reputation in tatters, and a poorer, more unequal and unstable world for us all. Africa and the Middle East, both home to some of the world’s least-developed countries, will be forced to pay the highest price because of the reduced budget.
“We welcome the Foreign Secretary’s commitment to support women and girls and move away from supporting some richer countries, as well as news that fragile and conflict-affected states including Gaza, Sudan, and Lebanon will continue to be supported this year. But without the government clearly setting out allocations of the UK aid budget by country, we still have no clarity on whether the government will continue support for some of the world’s most marginalised countries. …
“Ahead of the upcoming Global Partnerships Conference and the UK’s G20 leadership next year, the UK needs to step up and build back its shattered reputation, limit the damage already caused by its political choices, and help build a safer, healthier and more prosperous world for us all.”
Former First Minister Lord Jack McConnell, speaking on behalf of the McConnell International Foundation, said:
“It is a mistake to cut vital support to people in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere at a time when UK aid is needed more than ever. And it is a matter of deep regret that it is a Labour government that has made this choice.
“No one should be proud of cuts that are proportionately larger than Donald Trump’s cuts to US Aid.
“A Labour government that – for the first time ever – spends less on the world’s most vulnerable than the Tories will be remembered for the wrong reasons.”
The Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs, Angus Robertson, said:
“This is an extraordinarily disappointing and dangerous decision from the UK Government.
“At a time when the international community should be stepping up to support the poorest countries in the world, these aid cuts will cause real damage to some of the most vulnerable communities and will cause serious damage to our partner countries Malawi, Zambia and Rwanda.
“Regardless of this deeply worrying decision from the UK Government, I want to be clear that the Scottish Government’s commitment to international development is absolute. We are proud of the role Scotland plays on the international stage – and we will not take the same dangerous path as the UK Government.”
The Scotland-Malawi Partnership noted the potential impact on Malawi, saying:
“Whilst the SMP welcomes the UK Government’s pledge to ‘ensure that women and girls are central to development decisions’, it underlines FCDO’s own Equality impact assessment of Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme allocations for 2025 to 2026 which says that were the FCDO to stop ODA programmes with health objectives in Malawi: ‘this would be expected to result in approximately 250,000 adolescents losing access to modern methods of family planning each year and an expected 20,000 children becoming at risk of dropping out of school because of an end to school feeding.’
SIDA has previously warned that these cuts are a political choice, not an inevitability. Reacting to the announcement of the overall reduction in March 2025, SIDA’s CEO Frances Guy said:
“SIDA and our members are extremely concerned about the Prime Minister’s decision to suddenly and drastically reduce the aid budget, which will have devastating consequences for the lives of millions of people around the world.”
“These cuts will cause significant harm in vulnerable communities around the world, who are already facing the consequences of the US decision to pause foreign aid spending. This short-sighted decision may seem straightforward to the Government, but it may prove in reality to be the more costly choice as people in developing countries are placed at greater risk of hunger, disease, conflict and climate change.”
SIDA will continue to monitor the impact of the cuts on our member organisations and their partners overseas. SIDA is also calling for greater clarity on the detail of the cuts to individual country budgets, which have not yet been announced.
A number of media outlets have also covered the story:
The Guardian: Some of the world’s poorest countries to lose UK aid due to 56% budget cut
Daily Telegraph: UK to cut bilateral aid to Africa by £900m by 2028
The Independent: Starmer facing fresh Labour backlash over international aid cuts
The Independent: UK climate aid cuts ‘short-sighted’ and leave ‘fossil fuel profits untouched’, campaigners say
The Tablet: Catholic and other charities condemn aid cuts
Byline Times (podcast): “Unbelievable” Aid Cuts “Will Cost Lives”