Recommendation 10

HM Government Not Addressed

43. We are taking steps to strengthen the integration of gender and other equality issues across the Department’s work. This will ensure we maximise the impacts for women, girls, and marginalised groups across all our spend and through our diplomatic levers. 44. Our strengthened approach to mainstreaming gender equality will be underpinned by a strong capability offer, alongside measures to ensure clear expectations and robust monitoring and accountability systems. 45. When done well, integrating gender equality can have transformative impacts for women and girls. For example, since 2016, the Transforming Energy Access programme has supported training and work placements for women in the clean energy sector. As a result, it has improved clean energy access for over 15 million women and created more than 30,000 green jobs for women. (Recommendation 4, Paragraph 79) It is astonishing that the Government has made cuts to gender-specific programming without seemingly understanding the impacts on women and girls. The Government must publish impact assessments, as promised by the Minister, as soon as possible and no later than the response to this report. Government response: Partially agree 46. We strongly disagree with the premise that the Government made cuts to gender-specific programming without understanding the impacts on women and girls. An Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) – which considers impacts on women and girls and wider equalities – was an essential part of how the FCDO made these decisions. 47. We agree with the specific recommendation to publish impact assessments. The Government published the EIA on GOV.UK on 22/07/2025 alongside final 2025/26 ODA programme allocations. 48. We are working through detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used from 2026/27 to 2028/29, informed by internal and external consultation and an equality impact assessment. We plan to publish indicative allocations for the next three years in the coming months. (Recommendation 5, Paragraph 80) In the light of these impact assessments, the Government must reconsider the cuts to women and girls-specific programming announced by the Minister and should consider ringfencing funding for this programming. Government response: Disagree 49. Decisions on the FCDO’s 2025/26 ODA programme allocations have been made. As confirmed by the Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA), the allocations process for 2025/26 has protected against disproportionate impacts on women and girls and people living with disabilities. 50. Inevitably, reducing our ODA spend means that for some themes, there will be less to spend, but less money does not necessarily mean less action. We will use our convening power and diplomacy to maximise our impact in these areas, increase the use of expertise to provide technical assistance to partner governments, and – in the case of gender equality objectives in particular – embed this work across our international action. 51. We are working through detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used from 2026/27 to 2028/29, informed by internal and external consultation and an equality impact assessment, ahead of publishing indicative allocations for the next three years in the coming months. EIAs are an essential part of how we make decisions on ODA programme allocations. (Recommendation 6, Paragraph 81) The Government must develop a robust strategy and a consistent, data-led methodology for mainstreaming and integration, to ensure that its efforts to mainstream and integrate gender take place in tandem with stand-alone programming. Government response: Agree 52. We agree that we must develop a robust strategy and a consistent, data- led methodology for mainstreaming and integration, 53. We are currently refreshing our approach and taking steps to strengthen the integration of gender and other equalities issues across the Department’s work. This will ensure we maximise the impacts for women, girls, and marginalised groups across all our spend and through our diplomatic levers. 54. Our new approach to embedding gender equality will consider the most effective measures for driving impactful mainstreaming across the Department’s business, including harnessing the use of data and metrics. Working with the private sector (Conclusion 10, Paragraph 87) The private sector can play a pivotal role in stimulating the economies of fragile and conflict-affected states. British International Investment has a strong track record of investing in difficult environments, particularly within fragile and conflict-affected states, helping to mitigate the drivers of displacement.