{"id":2140,"date":"2026-07-05T10:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T10:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnnglobalnews.com\/2026\/07\/05\/overseas-education-project-for-women-and-girls-axed-by-uk-after-two-years\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T10:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T10:05:10","slug":"overseas-education-project-for-women-and-girls-axed-by-uk-after-two-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=2140","title":{"rendered":"Overseas education project for women and girls axed by UK after two years"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-14sl0e4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-17l77cs\">\n<figure id=\"8af08f6a-6274-422b-932d-0912745be793\" class=\"dcr-191xnya\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A girl in a blue patterned headscarf and dress writes in a lined notebook with a pen\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/8fe3bfd9209ce4fc803c25bb4ed0fe3aa3314837\/0_0_2497_1996\/master\/2497.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"371.7020424509411\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><span class=\"dcr-kogzpx\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-18mnkpm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1294qmb\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-4sl2vt\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1mfxiaj\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">An Afghan girl in a secret school. Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, girls have been barred from secondary education, but some still study in secret. <\/span> Photograph: Nanna M Steffensen\/Guardian<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"8af08f6a-6274-422b-932d-0912745be793\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-qda0hp\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1e9iiy9\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">An Afghan girl in a secret school. Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, girls have been barred from secondary education, but some still study in secret. <\/span> Photograph: Nanna M Steffensen\/Guardian<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-ql9l8l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6mja0y\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-l0wuod\">Overseas education project for women and girls axed by UK after two years <\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1xpojbf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gm5ptv\">\n<p>The programme, aimed at keeping 1m girls in school across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, withdrawn after aid cuts<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-x1al2c\">\n<div class=\"dcr-11gq2tx\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-1w2vkyc\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-ogvvui\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A leading higher education programme, aimed at keeping 1 million girls in school across <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/africa\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Africa<\/a>, Asia and the Middle East, has been axed by the British government just two years after it was announced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The scheme, Strengthening higher education for female empowerment (SHEFE), which was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/women-and-girls-across-africa-asia-and-the-middle-east-to-benefit-from-a-new-uk-higher-education-programme\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">unveiled with some fanfare<\/a> two years ago by the outgoing Conservative government, had a \u00a345m budget to increase access to higher education for 1 million students worldwide. It has now had its tender withdrawn, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">In May, Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, stressed her commitment to women and girls, declaring they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/foreign-secretary-launches-new-international-coalition-to-end-violence-against-women-and-girls\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">were a priority at the FCDO<\/a> and that she was \u201cdetermined to work across borders to ensure women\u2019s safety is a worldwide priority\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Bambos Charalambous, the Labour MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on global education, said he was concerned. \u201cI\u2019m 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cFCDO has acknowledged how such partnerships can transform lives, while also benefiting institutions here at home. It is vital to start thinking now about how to build back from the aid cuts to save similar projects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The programme was designed in part because 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. Women who have advanced levels of learning also increase their earnings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">People working in the international development and education sectors claimed the move to axe SHEFE was the latest decision to severely undermine the UK\u2019s professed commitment to women and girls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The Home Office has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2026\/mar\/23\/women-banned-from-studying-britain-taliban-afghanistan-sudan?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">blocked new study visas<\/a> for applicants from Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar and Cameroon, meaning many women whose opportunities to study in their own countries were restricted will miss out on life-changing opportunities. British universities earn large amounts of money from foreign students, who pay much higher fees than UK-born students.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Joseph Nhan-O\u2019Reilly, co-founder of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ipned.org\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">International Parliamentary Network for Education<\/a>, said: \u201cThe government talks up its commitment to women and girls but at every turn it denies the world\u2019s most marginalised girls the thing that everyone agrees has the biggest impact on their lives and that of their communities: access to higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"d1a79d4f-da65-48ff-a47c-ff364a9c1a19\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-d9bay7\">\n<div id=\"img-2\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Eleven African children seen from above, all reading books while sitting in a small space\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/9497946caa9452eda58593b6d95920fd81abc778\/0_0_3600_2395\/master\/3600.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"296.0486111111111\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><a href=\"#img-2\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"d1a79d4f-da65-48ff-a47c-ff364a9c1a19\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-174mzkf\"><span class=\"dcr-vyhg7z\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Pupils at Bethel primary school in Ifako, Lagos. <\/span> Photograph: S Heunis\/AFP\/Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Earlier this year, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/jnhanoreilly_this-week-the-uk-foreign-commonwealth-and-share-7374807009721884672-ptEb\/?utm_source=social_share_send&amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;rcm=ACoAAABV_4YBrIoZBBTlQLHsodTGZRgp33kCjk8&amp;utm_campaign=copy_link\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">FCDO announced it was cancelling<\/a> the tender for its planned Education for All programme in South Sudan, Nhan-O\u2019Reilly said. The \u00a3150m scheme had been designed to support the education of girls and children with disabilities in one of the world\u2019s poorest countries, with one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalpartnership.org\/where-we-work\/south-sudan\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">highest rates of children out of education<\/a> and the world\u2019s fourth-lowest literacy rate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/voices\/uk-aid-cuts-education-budget-girls-b2794679.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Charalambous wrote in the Independent<\/a> that a UK programme in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which had seen tens of thousands of girls going to school for the first time, was being abandoned. Educational work was also cut in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, and the FCDO Girls\u2019 Education Department lost 51% of its funding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A spokesperson at Bond, a UK network for organisations working in international development and humanitarian aid, said: \u201cAny cuts to programmes that support women and girls, including through education, threaten to reverse hard-won progress on ending gender-based violence and exploitation, and advancing gender equality worldwide.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cLast year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moreincommon.org.uk\/research\/publics-priorities-for-aid-post-cuts\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">polling by More in Common<\/a> found the majority of the UK public wanted programmes that protect women and girls\u2019 safety to be shielded from cuts to the UK aid budget. We urge the foreign secretary to uphold her commitment to prioritising the safety, human rights and economic opportunity of women and girls around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/documents\/education-aid-cuts\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">analysis by Unicef<\/a>, international aid to education is projected to fall by $3.2bn (\u00a32.4bn) by 2026 \u2013 a 24% drop. It estimated that 6 million more children risk being out of school by the end of the year, with 30% of them in humanitarian settings. This is equivalent to emptying every primary school in Germany and Italy combined.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"25aa68b7-e7cd-46fa-9ace-f3b7cbd0b6c0\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-1oq85qr\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-15 | 15\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1rx5ky9\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-15vltj4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2026\/jan\/02\/pakistan-women-girls-education-health-politics\" class=\"dcr-f35c0u\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-vvxpdt\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6z6e7\">\n<div class=\"dcr-zh9rih\">\u2018I wasn\u2019t allowed to study, but I will make sure no girl in this village hears those same words\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-oj13vq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-ef9nua\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The UK had previously been one of the champions of global education, said Nhan-O\u2019Reilly, and the cuts announced last year closely followed those in the US. \u201cThese cuts can\u2019t be seen on their own; they\u2019ve set the tone and influenced the posture and level of commitment from many other donors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The prime minister, Keir Starmer, announced last year that the UK aid budget would be cut from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% in 2027, its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2025\/feb\/28\/keir-starmer-carry-out-largest-cut-uk-overseas-aid-in-history\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">lowest level<\/a> since records began. The UN target is for countries to give 0.7%, something the Conservative former prime minister David Cameron pledged to do in 2012 despite protests from his own party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The cut in 2025 was a reversal of Labour manifesto pledges and led to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2025\/feb\/28\/anneliese-dodds-resigns-keir-starmer-cut-aid-budget\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">resignation of Anneliese Dodds<\/a>, the then international development minister.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cWe\u2019ve been absolutely flabbergasted and devastated by these cuts happening under Labour,\u201d said Nhan-O\u2019Reilly. \u201cThey\u2019re clearly a break in the manifesto. This was a huge mistake and betrayal of the sector.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">An FCDO spokesperson said the aid cuts were to fund an increase in defence spending. \u201cNational security is the first duty of this government,\u201d they said. \u201cThis does not mean stepping back from our values \u2013 protecting women and girls is now a Foreign Office priority \u2026 Funding to tackle violence against women and girls is protected this year.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-swayiu\"><span class=\"dcr-1xhbmzr\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-2c03t5\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-p7nd18\">\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/global-development\/global-development\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Global development<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/global-development\/series\/aid-cuts\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Aid cuts<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/global-development\/global-education\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Global education<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/global-development\/womens-rights-and-gender-equality\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Women&#8217;s rights and gender equality<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/politics\/yvette-cooper\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Yvette Cooper<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/politics\/foreignpolicy\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Foreign policy<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/politics\/foreign-commonwealth-and-development-office\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/education\/universities\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Universities<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-313bdz\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Overseas%20education%20project%20for%20women%20and%20girls%20axed%20by%20UK%20after%20two%20years%20&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2026\/jul\/04\/overseas-education-project-for-women-and-girls-axed-by-uk-after-two-years?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-ncybeu\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-19bkree\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fglobal-development%2F2026%2Fjul%2F04%2Foverseas-education-project-for-women-and-girls-axed-by-uk-after-two-years&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=global-development\/2026\/jul\/04\/overseas-education-project-for-women-and-girls-axed-by-uk-after-two-years\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-1c41onw\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-axwinp\"><span class=\"dcr-1ryr20k\"><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Afghan girl in a secret school. Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, girls have been barred from secondary education, but some still study in secret. Photograph: Nanna M Steffensen\/Guardian &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=2140\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}