Africa to be hit hard as UK foreign aid cuts revealed

A Foreign Office report shows the biggest cuts will come in Africa with less spent on women's health and water sanitation.

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The government said in February it would slash foreign aid spending by 40% - from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% - to increase defence spending to 2.5% after pressure from the US.

A Foreign Office report and impact assessment show the biggest cuts this year will come in Africa, with less spent on women's health and water sanitation with increased risks, it says, of disease and death.

Aid charities have criticised the move, saying the cuts would impact the world's most vulnerable people.

But the government said spending on multilateral aid bodies - money given to international organisations like the World Bank - would be protected, including the Gavi vaccine alliance, and it said the UK would also continue to play a key humanitarian role in hotspots such as Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan.