UK aid to tackle violence against women and girls
A review assessing the effectiveness of the UK’s development assistance to tackle violence against women and girls.
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We expect to publish this review in Autumn 2026.
Summary
Across the world, women and girls’ rights are under threat, with funding to women’s rights organisations in decline and gender-based violence worsening due to global crises, rising levels of conflict, and emerging forms including technology-enabled violence. Ending violence against women and girls has consistently been a stated policy priority for the UK government since 2010. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper reinforced in recent months that tackling violence against women and girls must be ‘at the heart’ of British foreign policy and has established the ‘All In’ global alliance to galvanise political commitment and investment. Shifts in the global aid environment are reshaping the UK’s international development approach, including how it addresses violence against women and girls within this dynamic context.
This review will assess the effectiveness of UK development assistance in tackling violence against women and girls and develop recommendations which can inform current and future strategy and delivery. It will examine global trends; UK international commitments and performance against them; trends in UK official development assistance (ODA) allocation for violence against women and girls work; use of research; partnership working; approaches to scaling and mainstreaming this work into the wider aid portfolio; and the impact, value for money and sustainability of the UK’s work in this space. The review will also consider a selected number of themes within the violence against women and girls portfolio and will include country case studies.
Review questions:
- How relevant have the UK’s strategic objectives been for tackling violence against women and girls?
- How effectively has the UK delivered against its strategic objectives for tackling violence against women and girls?
- How effectively has the UK built and utilised its evidence base in order to prevent violence against women and girls?
- How well is the goal of tackling violence against women and girls integrated across the UK’s aid portfolio?
- How effectively has the UK worked in partnership to tackle violence against women and girls?
Read the terms of reference for more information about the review scope.