The UK government has slashed overseas aid to Commonwealth countries, the Guardian can reveal, in contrast to the warm words for the group from King Charles and the prime minister, Andy Burnham, this week.
Amid sharp cuts in the UK’s aid budget overall, the Commonwealth has fared poorly, an analysis of the most recent and projected aid figures, seen by the Guardian, has shown.
Funding from the UK to the Commonwealth nations that previously had bilateral aid programmes will be cut from £546m in 2024-25 to £131m in 2028-29. Of that total, a large chunk – £68m – will go to Nigeria, leaving £63m for other countries.
The revelations come as the king attends the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) this week in Antigua, where he said it was “only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices” of slavery but where Burnham’s government fought to ensure that any discussion of reparations would be off the agenda.
The government has been cutting back on aid to countries that have been rapidly developing and are now judged to be middle income, such as India and Antigua, but the cuts to Commonwealth countries go much further, including many countries that are still among the poorest and many that are struggling under heavy debt burdens.
For example, Sierra Leone, one of the world’s least developed countries, will have its aid slashed from nearly £30m in 2024-25 to £5m in 2028-29. The UK and Sierra Leone will act as co-conveners of a strand of talks focusing on adaptation to the impacts of the climate crisis, at the Cop31 climate summit in Turkey next week.
Aid to Rwanda, where the previous government had a scheme to send refugees, is also being cut from nearly £30m in 2024-25 to £5m in 2028-29. Aid to Tanzania will be slashed from £60m in 2025-26 to £5m in 2028-29. The Caribbean Development Team will have its funding cut from more than £98m in 2025-26 to £45m in 2026-27.
Nigeria will continue to represent one of the biggest destinations for Commonwealth aid, scheduled to receive £68m in 2028-29, down from £137m this year.
Funding for nature has been particularly hard-hit, experts told the Guardian, as many Commonwealth countries have not only had their aid funding slashed but have also been cut off from applying to the Darwin Initiative funds for nature protection. At least 26 countries from the Commonwealth have been prevented from receiving funds under the longstanding Darwin funding stream, worth about £40m a year.
Adrian Gahan, the UK lead at the Campaign for Nature charity, said: “UK aid to Commonwealth countries has fallen dramatically in recent years, with further cuts on the horizon. Some of the world’s most biodiversity-rich countries, many of which are also grappling with high levels of poverty, are facing severe reductions in support. For example, the UK’s Caribbean Development Team is set to see its funding cut by more than half between this year and next.”
He noted the contrast between the government’s stance at Chogm and the royal visit to the Caribbean. “This week, the king attended the launch of the Commonwealth nature initiative, a major new effort to protect nature across Commonwealth countries,” said Gahan. “Yet the UK government failed to make a financial contribution.”
Jean McLean, Oxfam GB chief influencing officer, said: “The UK government has really dropped the ball when it comes to the aid budget at exactly the moment when conflict, humanitarian crises, hunger and climate breakdown are driving global need to record levels. These cuts will not be felt in Westminster – they will be felt by families facing starvation, children denied healthcare and education, and communities struggling to survive the impacts of conflict and climate disasters.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been approached for comment. The Chogm meeting is set to wrap up on Wednesday.
