Ending FGM aid puts women and girls at ‘serious risk’, MPs warn

Ending the UK’s flagship aid programme to combat female genital mutilation (FGM) presents a ‘serious risk to women and girls globally’, the chairs of two parliamentary committees have warned.

In a letter addressed to Baroness Chapman of Darlington, minister of state for international development and Africa, Sarah Owen MP, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, and Sarah Champion MP, chair of the International Development Committee, said they were ‘deeply concerned’ that the UK’s flagship aid programme to end FGM will conclude in October 2026 with no plans for future funding.

The programme, ‘The Girl Generation – Africa-Led Movement to End FGM’, currently sees the UK collaborating with national governments in 17 countries, as well as with activists and grassroots organisations in Kenya, Senegal, Somalia and Ethiopia, to combat FGM practices.

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The MPs warned that failure to tackle FGM overseas compromises the safety of women and girls in the UK, who remain at risk of being taken abroad to undergo FGM. They said this ‘appears counter to the government’s commitment to halving violence against women and girls in the UK within a decade’.

According to figures quoted in the letter, more than four million girls across the globe remain at risk of FGM annually and the absolute number of girls subject to FGM continues to rise, with 230 million women and girls alive in 2024 estimated to have been subject to FGM – 30 million more than in 2016.

The MPs wrote: ‘Ending the funding for such crucial work tackling FGM therefore presents a serious risk to women and girls globally.

‘It undermines the UK’s obligation to support the elimination of FGM by 2030 as a signatory to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and it will diminish the UK’s standing as a global leader in efforts to combat FGM.’

The MPs called on the government to commit dedicated bilateral funding beyond 2026 to continue its work to end FGM.

They also requested a detailed breakdown of total Official Development Assistance spend on FGM for the last three years and projected allocations for the next three years.

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The letter followed the Women and Equalities Committee’s report on FGM, published in September, which urged the government to protect FGM programmes from funding reductions in light of the drop in aid spending from 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income by 2027.

In its response to the committee’s FGM report, the government said: ‘The FCDO’s flagship programme on ending FGM The Girl Generation – Africa-Led Movement to End FGM concludes in October 2026, and there are currently no plans for future funding.’

However, the committee welcomed notification from the government that it is taking forward the report’s recommendation relating to reconstructive surgery for FGM survivors.

The committee had called on ministers to facilitate and fund research into the effectiveness of reconstructive surgery for FGM survivors as a matter of priority, adding that if evidence indicated that the surgery would be effective, then it should be provided on the NHS.

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The government also said the e-Learning for Healthcare FGM Module is being refreshed for publication in 2026, and the NHS and Department of Health and Social Care are developing a communications plan to encourage take-up among health professionals.

Earlier this year, Rohma Ullah, head of Barnado’s National FGM Centre, told Nursing in Practice that practice nurses are key to ensuring the consistent provision of FGM support services in the UK.