Take action: Tell the UK Government to reverse the aid cut
Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is calling on the UK Government to reverse its cut to Official Development Assistance – commonly known as foreign aid.
This decision will have a direct and catastrophic impact on the health and wellbeing of people living through conflict, disaster and disease – in many places where MSF works.
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- Our UK Aid cuts briefing for MPs and Parliamentary questions for MPs will automatically be attached to your email
Update: Aid cuts announced
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has now announced where the ODA cuts for 2025/2026 will fall, and it is even worse than anticipated. Deep cuts to healthcare and in countries that were supposedly “protected” will be implemented from this year. Sudan, already contending with violent conflict, displacement, and famine, will see cuts of 18 percent. Palestine – facing famine and genocide, will see cuts of 21 percent. Overall, funding for health will fall by nearly half.
MSF teams on the ground are already seeing the impact that global funding cuts are having on their patients.
In Sudan, which faces and 18 percent budget cut from this year, MSF teams support the only medical facility available for the 55,000 camp residents and nearby villages of Sortoni, North Darfur. As the region faces famine, Suad, from Sortoni camp’s women’s committee, says, “Our people have been forgotten. They left us alone in a desperate situation.”
Five places UK aid cuts will hit the hardest
Why do we need your support?
Around the world, MSF teams are working on the frontline of humanitarian crises and healthcare emergencies. We know from experience in places such as Afghanistan, Yemen and Nigeria that the cut to UK Aid will ultimately cost lives.
MSF is a leading humanitarian organisation. We have a duty to speak out.
I'm writing to you with an urgent, and unusual, request.
On 25 February, the UK Government announced a significant cut to its official development assistance – often known as the foreign aid budget.
I know from my experience with MSF, as well as that of my colleagues around the world, that this will have a direct and catastrophic impact on the health and wellbeing of people living through conflict, disaster and disease.
Put simply, this decision will cost lives.
The Government has shrunk the aid budget to increase spending on defence. But this shouldn't be a choice between one and the other – the people we support need both services and a safe place to live.
Right now, in Sudan, MSF teams are working in what has been dubbed “a humanitarian void”. More than 11 million people have been forcibly displaced by the war, however, many international organisations are barely able to respond. Shameful cuts, such as announced by the UK Government, now risk making crises like this more common.
In Afghanistan, Yemen, Nigeria, and countries around the world, it is clear that aid funding is needed now more than ever to meet the scale and complexity of global events. Instead, the gap is growing, and our most vulnerable people are in the middle of it.
Now is the time to speak out.
MSF is calling on the UK Government to reverse the aid cut and commit to a strategy that prioritises the health and wellbeing of people in need.
You can help us do this by emailing your MP. We have created a simple tool that enables you to share our urgent message with them directly.
MSF is an independent, neutral and impartial organisation. We do not take any funding from the UK Government, and worldwide 98 percent of our support comes from private individuals – people just like you. Since 1971, this has given us a unique independence that means we can act fast where others cannot, driven by medical needs alone.
So, I want to be clear: for us, this is simply about saving lives.
Thank you.
Dr Natalie Roberts
MSF UK Executive Director
How will this letter help?
MSF has contacted ministers in the UK Government to voice our serious concern about the impact of the UK Aid cut. In the past days, many charities and experts have spoken out to share their outrage.
You can help by emailing your own MP to share our urgent message – putting further pressure on the Government to reverse this dangerous decision.
Will MSF be affected by the UK Aid cut?
MSF is an independent, neutral and impartial organisation. We do not take any funding from the UK Government, however, we bear witness to the impact of aid cuts in the countries where we work.
Worldwide 98 percent of our support comes from private individuals – people just like you. Since 1971, this has given us a unique independence that means we can act fast where others cannot, driven by medical needs alone.