LONDON, July 5, 2026 – In a move that has stunned international development advocates, the British government has quietly axed a flagship $57 million higher education program designed to keep one million girls in school across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The decision, confirmed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on Friday, comes just two years after the program—dubbed Strengthening Higher Education for Female Empowerment (SHEFE)—was launched with bipartisan fanfare under the previous Conservative administration.
The abrupt cancellation follows deep cuts to Britain’s foreign aid budget, which have already slashed spending from 0.7% to 0.3% of gross national income. The FCDO confirmed that the program’s tender has been withdrawn, effectively terminating contracts with partner universities and NGOs. This decision directly contradicts public statements made in May by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who declared women and girls a “priority” for the FCDO and pledged to “work across borders to ensure women’s safety is a worldwide priority.”
The backlash was immediate. Bambos Charalambous, the Labour MP who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Education, called the move “alarming.” “I’m alarmed that a flagship higher education program designed to empower women and girls and help them achieve their potential appears to have been scrapped because of the aid cuts,” Charalambous said. “FCDO has acknowledged how such partnerships can transform lives while also benefiting institutions here at home. It is vital to start thinking now about how to build back from the aid cuts to save similar projects.”
The SHEFE program was designed to combat a stark reality: girls who complete secondary education are up to six times less likely to marry as children and experience less domestic violence. Women with advanced degrees also see significantly higher lifetime earnings. Simultaneously, the Home Office has blocked new study visas for applicants from Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar, and Cameroon, effectively barring women from conflict zones—where Taliban rule has banned girls from secondary education since 2021—from seeking life-changing opportunities abroad. This dual blow has led critics to accuse the UK of abandoning its moral and strategic commitments to gender equality.
Development sector insiders warn that the cancellation will have a cascading effect. British universities, which rely heavily on revenue from international students paying higher fees than domestic ones, will lose a key pipeline for female talent from the Global South. Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly, co-founder of the International Education Coalition, described the move as “a devastating short-term fix that undermines Britain’s long-term influence.” As the July 4 announcement sank in, activists called on the government to reverse course, arguing that the program’s $57 million cost represents a fraction of the billions in aid cuts already enacted—and a far heavier price for the millions of girls now left without a classroom.