The British government has axed a leading higher education programme designed to keep 1 million girls in school across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, just two years after it was announced.
The scheme, Strengthening Higher Education for Female Empowerment (SHEFE), had a £45m budget to increase access to higher education for 1 million students worldwide. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) confirmed that the tender has been withdrawn.
Commitment to Women and Girls Questioned
In May, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stressed her commitment to women and girls, declaring them a priority at the FCDO and saying she was “determined to work across borders to ensure women’s safety is a worldwide priority.” However, the axing of SHEFE has raised concerns about the UK's commitment.
Bambos Charalambous, the Labour MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on global education, 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.” He added that the FCDO has acknowledged how such partnerships can transform lives and urged thinking about how to build back from the aid cuts.
Impact on Girls and Women
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 with advanced levels of learning also increase their earnings.
People working in international development and education sectors claimed the move to axe SHEFE severely undermines the UK’s professed commitment to women and girls. Additionally, the Home Office has blocked new study visas for applicants from Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar and Cameroon, restricting opportunities for women whose access to education in their own countries is limited.
Broader Aid Cuts
Earlier this year, the FCDO cancelled the tender for its planned Education for All programme in South Sudan, a £150m scheme designed to support education for girls and children with disabilities in one of the world’s poorest countries. Last year, a UK programme in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that had seen tens of thousands of girls attend school for the first time was abandoned. Educational work was also cut in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, and the FCDO Girls’ Education Department lost 51% of its funding.
Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly, co-founder of the International Parliamentary Network for Education, said: “The government talks up its commitment to women and girls but at every turn it denies the world’s most marginalised girls the thing that everyone agrees has the biggest impact on their lives and that of their communities: access to higher education.”
Public Opinion and International Impact
A Bond spokesperson said: “Any 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.” Last year, polling by More in Common found the majority of the UK public wanted programmes that protect women and girls’ safety to be shielded from cuts to the UK aid budget.
According to Unicef, international aid to education is projected to fall by $3.2bn (£2.4bn) by 2026 – 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.
Government Justification
An FCDO spokesperson said the aid cuts were to fund an increase in defence spending. “National security is the first duty of this government,” they said. “This does not mean stepping back from our values – protecting women and girls is now a Foreign Office priority … Funding to tackle violence against women and girls is protected this year.”
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 lowest level since records began. The cut in 2025 reversed Labour manifesto pledges and led to the resignation of Anneliese Dodds, the then international development minister.
Nhan-O’Reilly said: “We’ve been absolutely flabbergasted and devastated by these cuts happening under Labour. They’re clearly a break in the manifesto. This was a huge mistake and betrayal of the sector.”
