51茶馆

Purpose and scope听

FCDO policy and legal commitments require a proportionate assessment of equalities impacts at every point of decision making. This includes applying the Public Sector Equality Duty to decision making, considering impacts on people with protected and relevant characteristics ^{[footnote 1]} and consideration of the desirability of providing development assistance in ways that reduce gender inequality in accordance with the International Development Act 2002.听听

This assessment details the anticipated impacts on equalities of the proposed Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations for FY 2025 to 2026 before they are finalised. The assessment aggregates the total expected impacts on equalities based on ministerial decisions taken throughout the allocations process and sets out mitigations to aid current and future decision-making.鈥�听

叠补肠办驳谤辞耻苍诲听听

2025 to 2026 is the first year in a gradual transition towards reducing ODA from 0.5% to 0.3% GNI by 2027. A one-year allocation process was carried out for 2025 to 2026, in line with a one-year spending review and envelope set by HM Treasury. Ministerial decisions were made to meet the International Climate Finance (ICF) target; deliver in line with multilateral agreements; broadly flatline humanitarian spend; and to protect forecasted spend in Sudan, Ukraine, and Gaza and Overseas Territories.

These are expected to protect positive impacts on equalities in those areas of spend.听 Guidance and senior messaging on the budget adjustment process made clear that teams and directorates should assess the equalities impacts of any proposed adjustments to the 2025 to 2026 ODA budget (both increases and decreases).听听听

惭别迟丑辞诲辞濒辞驳测听听

We have used the best possible data to undertake this analysis. The management information data used in the bilateral analysis have come directly from FCDO鈥檚 finance systems and / or the budget adjustment process. These data have not been independently quality assured and are not official statistics. It is likely that some of the spending data will be adjusted by the time they have been processed and quality assured for the final Statistics on International Development (SID) for 2024 and 2025 publications.

The bilateral analysis is based on a dataset containing almost 600 programmes which, combined, account for around 70% of FCDO鈥檚 bilateral ODA allocation for 2025 to 2026. This indicates that the dataset is representative enough to provide indicative insights and generalised conclusions for this EIA. Thirteen programmes and projects put forward for closure were also assessed but this may not be a full data set.听听

Three dimensions of spend were tracked to make this assessment. These draw from the data available and recognise the limited data on relevant and protected characteristics beyond gender and disability.听听

1. Spend on equalities focused programmes. This tracks programmes marked as meeting the OECD criteria for gender equality or disability inclusion to be considered a 鈥減rincipal鈥� or 鈥渟ignificant鈥� aim. Principal marked programmes are considered to be equalities targeted, while significant marked programmes are considered to be equalities mainstreamed.听

2. Spend on social sectors. This tracks programmes in health (which includes sexual reproductive health and rights), education and social protection, plus gender-based violence (GBV) and support to Women鈥檚 Rights Organisations (WRO).听听

3. Spend in Least Developed Countries (LDC) ^{[footnote 2]} and Fragile and Conflict Affected Situations (FCAS) ^{[footnote 3]}. As poverty is increasingly concentrated in these country groups, this tracks how pro-poor the geographic footprint of ODA 颈蝉.听听

Where spend in these dimensions is reduced, negative impacts on equalities are assumed. Where spend reductions to these dimensions are higher than the average budget reductions across a modality, and/ or the overall proportion of spend on a dimension has been reduced, disproportionate negative impacts on equalities are assumed. The bilateral analysis compares spend with 2024 to 2025 levels. The analysis on other modalities of multilateral, R&D, ICF and FT compares 2025 to 2026 allocations against earlier commitments, as reprofiling and fluctuations in contributions over the period of contracts and multilateral replenishments limit the usefulness of year-on-year comparisons.听

Key conclusions听

1. Positive impacts on equalities have been protected across multilateral, humanitarian, Financial Transactions, International Climate Finance, and Research and Development spend. HMT ringfencing for research and development and financial transactions budgets has maintained positive impacts on equalities in these areas. A ministerial decision to protect humanitarian spend and all forecasted spend in Sudan, Ukraine, and Gaza and Overseas Territories has also maintained positive equalities impacts in those areas.听听

2. Where there are reductions to planned bilateral spend, this will have negative impacts on equalities. This applies to reductions in spend on education (in Africa and through centrally managed programmes), health, social protection and the discontinuation or deprioritisation of some equalities-targeted programmes. However, the overall proportion of spend as a share of overall bilateral ODA remains the same on equalities focused programming, social sector spend and spend in LDCs, demonstrating that disproportionate impacts on equalities have been avoided.听

3. A trend away from standalone targeted (principal marked) programming on equalities towards mainstreaming was observed in the Indo Pacific and in other pockets of other spending directorates. Across directorates, 11 of the 13 existing and pipeline programmes that have been reported as discontinued or deprioritised were equalities focused. Other programmes may have been discontinued/ deprioritised which are not captured in this data set.听

4. The assessment finds that the impacts on equalities are mixed but that overall the proposed 2025 to 2026 ODA allocations protect against disproportionate impacts on equalities.

Key assessment of impacts听

Multilateral spend has been protected, enabling the FCDO to continue to meet all multilateral spending commitments in 2025 to 2026 including to equalities focused UN development agencies of UNFPA, UNWomen, and UNAids, and to the World Bank IDA fund which is focused in Least Developed Countries. This decision recognises multilateral agencies鈥� key role in delivering impact at scale for vulnerable groups (including those in humanitarian need and crisis) and in shaping global norms and standards in a context of wider rollback on rights.听听

Humanitarian spend, alongside planned spend in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan has been prioritised and protected, maintaining a positive impact on equalities by delivering lifesaving support to those impacted by crisis. This spend is delivered through multilateral and bilateral channels. For example, core humanitarian funding to the UN and Red Cross movement will continue as planned, allowing the UK to continue working closely with these partners to ensure global humanitarian response is inclusive, accountable and prioritised to those in greatest need.听听

Research and Development live contracts have been protected, allowing live equalities focused programmes to continue as planned in 2025 to 2026 with no negative impacts. Key investments include research on: what works to prevent gender-based violence, strengthening sexual and reproductive health rights, women鈥檚 economic empowerment, improvements to agriculture that benefit women, and girls鈥� education.听

Bilateral spend will see some reductions, and some existing and pipeline equalities focused programmes will also be discontinued or not go ahead. Reductions in forecast spend on existing programmes that are equalities focused in social sectors or in LDCs and FCAS will have a negative impact on equalities. However, the proportion of spending across each of the 3 dimensions of spend will be maintained, which avoids disproportionate impacts on equalities. Actual programme spend has also been maintained on Gender Based Violence (GBV), Women鈥檚 Rights Organisations, women鈥檚 economic empowerment, LGBT+. The following specific negative impacts were identified:听

• women, peace and security: a 25% reduction to the centrally managed programme on Women Peace and Security (WPS) will result in 50 fewer women peacebuilding organisations supported in FCAS, which will limit FCDO鈥檚 direct contribution to addressing gender inequalities and women鈥檚 participation in peace processes. Remaining programme funding will be prioritised to support women鈥檚 rights organisations (WROs) in specific conflicts such as Ukraine, Sudan and Syria at a reduced scale.

• education: in-year reductions to education spend are envisaged in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and in Zimbabwe, and a girls鈥� education programme in DRC will close early in 2025 to 2026. Adverse impacts on children will be likely, including the most vulnerable and children with disabilities eg the early closure of the DRC education programme will have negative impacts on 170,000 children in post-conflict rural Kasai. Education Centrally Managed Programmes (programmes managed at FCDO鈥檚 UK offices, where accountability sits with departments at headquarters) are continuing with reduced budgets, reducing the scale of education reforms.听

• health (including SRHR): in Africa, spending is reduced in women鈥檚 health, health systems strengthening and health emergency response eg in DRC, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia. Spending on some programmes targeting women and children, WASH and nutrition have also been reduced. For example, the reduction in budget of the Ending Preventable Deaths Support Programme, a key component of our work to help end the preventable deaths of women, newborns and children, will require reduction and prioritisation of the technical assistance provided to 11 flagship countries at a time when demand is likely to be high given other funding cuts. Overall, any reductions to health spending risk an increase in disease burden and ultimately in deaths, impacting in particular those living in poverty, women, children and people with disabilities.听

• social protection: the Hunger Safety Net programme in Kenya is reducing as part of country prioritisation, with expected negative equalities impact given the critical role of social protection for poor, vulnerable and marginalised households and groups.听听

• programme closure: 11 of the 13 existing and pipeline programmes and projects put forward for closure in the budget adjustment process were equalities focused. Other programmes may have been discontinued/ deprioritised which are not captured in this data set. The programmes identified were in health, education, economic development, governance, social protection technical assistance and climate. Seven of the programmes were gender equality mainstreamed. Four were Gender Equality targeted and are detailed below:听听听听听

  • successor programmes / extensions to the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) and Family Planning 2030 (FP2030) have been de-prioritised to accommodate other critical programming on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)
  • a programme under design on gender and human rights in the informal economy in the Indo Pacific will not go ahead
  • the Technical Assistance component of an education programme in Pakistan is being scaled down, reducing support to the Government in delivering policy improvements for girls and marginalised children

International Climate Finance (ICF): meeting the 拢11.6 billion ICF commitment by March 2026 remains our ambition with no expected change to impact on equalities. This will require continued prioritisation of ICF spend across spending units听听

Financial transactions: FT spend either goes through programmes with gender/equalities strategies or is delivered by organisations with gender/equalities strategies. 2025 to 2026 spend on FTs is in line with earlier commitments and no major change in impact on equalities is expected. Three of the biggest vehicles are aligned with the 2X criteria, a global standard for gender-lens investing and have current targets on this: British International Investments (BII), Mobilising Institutional Capital Through Listed Product Structures (MOBILIST) and Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA). BII retains its target for 25% of its portfolio to qualify against 2X gender lens investment criteria during this strategy period to 2026.听

惭颈迟颈驳补迟颈辞苍蝉听

The allocations process for 2025 to 2026 has protected against disproportionate impacts on equalities but there has been some negative impact. FCDO will ensure that when and where we do spend ODA, it has a positive impact on equalities and poverty in accordance with the 2002 International Development Act and that negative impact is avoided where possible.听

FCDO already has the following policies and activities in place which are expected to mitigate some of the negative impacts in this and future years:听

• Research and Evidence Directorate is maintaining the commitment for 80% of their R&D programmes to have gender equality as a significant or principal aim and commits to influencing on this across the HMG ODA R&D portfolio, to mitigate against the impacts of wider R&D cuts on women, girls and the most marginalised

• bilateral humanitarian allocations will continue to be guided by a needs-based model to ensure that we prioritise people living in countries in greatest need, as well as those who are disproportionately impacted by crisis, including women, children, people with disabilities, the elderly and LGBTQ+ communities. As there are increased risks of Gender Based Violence during humanitarian crises and in conflict, the UK continues to strive for a robust response to GBV in emergencies, including Conflict Related Sexual Violence, and is an active member of the Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies

• to have a greater focus on climate adaptation which would mitigate the impacts of reductions by redirecting spend to the world鈥檚 poorest people and places.听FCDO intention (also set out in the Paris Agreement) is to maintain balance between mitigation and adaptation spend and focus

• in line with UK ICF鈥檚 high ambition approach on Gender, Equalities, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI), all new ICF programmes where possible will have gender equality as a significant, if not principal, aim, and be 鈥�GEDSI 别尘辫辞飞别谤颈苍驳鈥澨�听

• the Financial Transaction Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) has committed that from 2026 onwards 50% of projects reaching financial close will meet 2X criteria and promote women鈥檚 economic empowerment, which is expected to increase volumes of gender-smart investment

• Gender, Equalities and Rights Department are developing an implementation plan for a strengthened approach to mainstreaming gender and equalities across programmes, policy and diplomatic engagement

Monitoring of the impacts identified in the EIA听

We will continue to track the 3 dimensions of spend as well as spend on other areas and groups beyond gender and disability such as LGBT+. Adjustments to our data collection approach will be needed to further track and aggregate the impacts on people, including those with other protected and relevant characteristics.