Is Government funding to combat FGM a useful use of UK taxpayers money?

Finding accurate and precise information in regard to public funding allocated by the Government towards combatting female circumcision/FGM can be challenging so I was pleased to receive the following from They Work For You. Although the imprecise responses go some way only towards answering the questions asked they may ironically offer us a glimpse into the way that taxpayers fund elements of Government spending overseas through what Charlotte Gill has coined ‘Woke Waste’ in DOGE UK.

Hyperlinks within the responses were subsequently added by me.

The questioner was Baroness Northover. She is a British academic, Liberal Democrat politician, member of the House of Lords and former junior government minister.

The respondent was Lord Collins. He is Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Africa), Government spokesperson for Equalities and Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict

Question 1.

On 15 January 2025 Baroness Northover asked how much funding the Government provided combatting FGM globally in each year from 2019 onwards.

Lord Collins offered the following response on 29 January 2025. It was sourced from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

Since 2019, the UK has committed up to £35.5 million towards the Supporting the Africa-Led Movement to End Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) programme. This includes funding to the UN Joint Programme for the Elimination of FGM.

Since 2019 we have also funded £20 million towards the Sudan Free of FGM programme.

The breakdown of these investments by year was included in the following table;

Year    Total

2019 – £505,242

2020 – £1,499,174

2021 – £4,371,113

2022 – £1,609,123

2023 – £6,703,605

2024 – £11, 655,218

 Total – £26,343,475

In addition, the Baroness was told the FCDO funds several programmes on ending gender-based violence (GBV) that includes FGM.

“In total the FCDO spent £53.4 million on ending GBV, including FGM, in 2023.”

This FCDO factsheet offers ‘gender-based violence results’ from April 2021 to March 2023.

Question 2.

On 30 January 2025, Baroness Northover enquired of His Majesty’s Government of the steps they are taking to accelerate progress in combatting FGM worldwide.

Lord Collins reported on the same day “The UK is utilising our policy, programmatic and diplomatic levers to accelerate global efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).”

He added that “since 2019, the UK has funded Phase II of the Africa Led Movement (ALM) to end FGM programmes in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Senegal. The ALM is working with activists, communities and grassroots organisations to harness evidence-based solutions to take end-FGM efforts to scale.”

And reported that the UK also funds the UN Joint Programme on the Elimination of FGM, to influence legislation, policy, and norm change efforts across 17 countries.

Perhaps the Baroness could next enquire about the amount granted to each organisation and how they were selected, the effectiveness of their (?evidence-based) programmes, how effectiveness is assessed and by whom? And consider whether this is a good use of taxpayers money?

18 February 2025

Further to the written answer provided by Lord Collins (above), Baroness Northover asked on 04 February which organisations received FGM grants in the years listed, together with grant sizes and what were the achievements and outcomes of the FGM grants provided?

Lord Collins advised on 14 February that the UK supports local organisations through our Africa-Led movement to End FGM: Phase II programme. The full list of organisations who received FGM grants during this period is available on: https://thegirlgeneration.org/eeey-grantees The grant mechanism was fully operational in 2024, granting to 53 organisations, with a focus on small grassroots organisations. The grants ranged from £400 to £100,000.

Evaluation assessments are taking place in March 2025 to understand the full impact of the grants. Early results show that from April 2024 to December 2024, grantee partners reached over 64,159 people through locally-led, community-based end-FGM initiatives. These included meetings with religious and community leaders, training, and support to girl champions, and school-based initiatives. Small grantee partners have made inroads into harder to reach communities. The programme has supported nine grantee partner representatives and 12 champions to participate in national, regional or global advocacy spaces. 46 grantees have also reported stronger organisational capacity, structures and systems.

In addition, the UK is funding local organisations through mechanisms such as the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and the Equality Fund. Some of these grantees are prioritising FGM, for example, the UNTF supported International Solidarity Foundation in Somalia (2020-2023), which has increased the proportion of religious leaders who believed that all types of FGM are harmful from 52 per cent to 96 per cent.