50,000 signatures reached
To: Boris Johnson, Prime Minister
Don’t cut UK aid
Don’t cut UK overseas aid: Doing so could cost tens of thousands of lives. As a country we would be turning our backs on millions of people who are struggling to survive.
Why is this important?
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced that he would cut around £4 billion from the UK aid budget from 2021. This money represents just 0.2% of UK’s Gross National Income (GNI), but tens of thousands of lives could be lost, and countless more livelihoods impacted, because of these cuts.
UK aid saves lives. Every year, UK aid ensures an estimated 5.6 million women and girls can access clean water and better sanitation. It means an estimated 18.6 million children are immunised against serious diseases and helps over a million girls go to school. [1]
UK aid is linked to UK income. So when times are tough and the UK’s gross national income falls, so too does the amount of aid we give. This means UK aid has already been cut by nearly £3 billion in 2020 due to the economic impact of Covid-19. This extra £4 billion marks a double blow for the world’s most marginalised people, at the worst possible time.
Boris Johnson needs to know that the British public won’t stand for a cut in UK aid. This is not building a “Global Britain”. This is turning our backs on millions of people, particularly women and girls in marginalised communities, who are struggling to survive.
Will you sign the petition urging Boris Johnson not to cut UK aid?
[1] UK Parliament: Departmental Update 28 October 2019: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2019-10-28/HCWS44
*Photo: Jenifer uses a handwashing station provided by ActionAid at her school in Burundi. Credit: Salvator Cubwa/ActionAid
