UK Government axes aid programme to educate young women after just 2 years

THE UK Government has axed an aid programme intended to keep one million girls in education just two years after it was announced. The scheme, called Strengthening Higher Education for Female Empowerment (SHEFE), was designed to support girls and young women going on to higher education in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It was announced in 2024 by the then-Conservative government. At the time, ministers said the £45 million project was "ambitious" and would "remove barriers preventing the next generation of leaders from enrolling in higher education". READ MORE: Public told don't swim at Scottish beach after sewage fault But now, according to The Guardian, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has confirmed the scheme's withdrawal as part of wider cuts to foreign aid. Bambos Charalambous, the Labour MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on global education, told The Guardian he was concerned. He said: “I’m 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.” In a House of Commons committee report published last month, titled Peace under pressure: Protecting Women, Peace and Security, the government was urged to do more and not make gender equality a "footnote in UK diplomacy". In its findings, the report advised: "The Government should explain why it did not convene a single dedicated session on Women, Peace and Security during its time as President of the United Nations Security Council in February 2026. READ MORE: I tried a £95 steak deal at Glasgow's only five-star hotel. My verdict It also said: "The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office must not lose its development or gender expertise. The Government is at risk of inflicting damage to its reputation as a Women, Peace and Security penholder and convenor. "Further still, it appears that the Government is standing idly by whilst hard–won gains in global gender equality are lost." Responding to the report last month, ministers pointed to diplomatic efforts at the United Nations, support for women peacebuilders and plans to ensure that 90 per cent of bilateral aid programmes include a focus on women and girls by 2030. However, they did not go as far as committing to protected funding, a set budget or greater parliamentary scrutiny. Following the SHEFE cut, the House of Lords is set to consider on July 9 what assessment the government made of the impact of cuts on international development outcomes for women and girls.