Terms of reference for ICAI review on UK aid to tackle violence against women and girls

1. Overview

Globally, women and girls’ rights are under threat, with funding to women’s rights organisations in decline and gender-based violence being worsened by global crises; rising levels of conflict; and emerging new forms, including technology-enabled violence. Violence against women and girls and poverty are mutually reinforcing; vulnerability to violence and its impact is heighted when women and girls have little economic independence, control over their own bodies and limited access to services.  

Ending violence against women and girls has consistently been a stated policy priority for the UK government since 2010, although levels of funding and political commitment have fluctuated. In recent months the Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said that tackling violence against women and girls must be ‘at the heart’ of British foreign policy, and has established global alliance ‘All In’ to galvanise political commitment and investment to end violence against women and girls globally.   

The UK’s approach to international development is changing, following changes in the global context for aid, as well as policy shifts and a reduction in UK official development assistance (ODA) from 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income by April 2027. The UK is redesigning how it approaches its work on violence against women and girls within a dynamic context.  

2. Scope, issues and challenges

The purpose of this review is to assess the effectiveness of the UK’s efforts to tackle violence against women and girls and develop recommendations which can inform current and future strategy and delivery. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) last reviewed the UK’s work on violence against women and girls in 2016. This review will complement the current International Development Committee (IDC) inquiry on the UK’s Women, Peace and Security initiative.

The review will collect and analyse data on: 

  • Patterns and trends on violence against women and girls in the global political context.  
  • The UK’s international commitments, policy and strategy related to violence against women and girls and how it has delivered against these. 
  • Trends in UK ODA allocation for violence against women and girls work. 
  • The UK’s generation and use of research and evidence on violence against women and girls. 
  • The UK’s partnership working to tackle violence against women and girls, including with survivors, women’s rights organisations and international donors and partners. 
  • The approach to scaling and mainstreaming efforts to end violence against women and girls into the wider aid portfolio. 
  • The impact, value for money and sustainability of the UK’s work on violence against women and girls. 

The review will consider a selected number of themes within the violence against women and girls portfolio and it will include country case studies. The number and scope of these will be determined in the inception phase of the review. 

3. Review questions

This review will look at the following questions: 

  1. How relevant have the UK’s strategic objectives been for tackling violence against women and girls? 
  2. How effectively has the UK delivered against its strategic objectives for tackling violence against women and girls? 
  3. How effectively has the UK built and utilised its evidence base in order to prevent violence against women and girls? 
  4. How well is the goal of tackling violence against women and girls integrated across the UK’s aid portfolio? 
  5. How effectively has the UK worked in partnership to tackle violence against women and girls? 

4. Governance and resourcing

Jillian Popkins will be the Lead Commissioner for this review, providing guidance and strategic oversight, with additional input from Commissioner Liz Ditchburn. 

The review will be undertaken by ICAI’s Service Provider and will be supported by ICAI’s Secretariat who will provide advice and support throughout the process. 

The methodology and final report will be peer reviewed by Ana Maria Buller Soto of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  

5. Timetable and output

The review will progress to the following timetable: 

  • February-May 2026: Research and fieldwork 
  • Summer 2026: Emerging insights (update to government) 
  • July-September 2026: Report drafting and factual accuracy checks 
  • Autumn 2026: Publication of the review