London, March 19, 2026 (Lusa) - The British government said on Thursday it would focus foreign aid on countries at war or in crisis and on support programmes for women, reducing funding to countries such as Mozambique. "To fund additional defence spending, we had to make the extremely difficult decision to reduce our development budget in the coming years," Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament on Thursday.

The government announced in February that it would reduce aid to 0.3% of Gross National Product (GNP) by 2027, from the current 0.7%, to offset the military budget increase in response to global geopolitical tension.

In parliament on Thursday, she said that 70% of foreign aid would help fragile countries affected by wars and conflicts resulting in humanitarian crises, such as Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and, since this week, Lebanon. "This means that direct bilateral aid funding for other countries will be reduced," she acknowledged.

Countries such as Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Mozambique "will continue to be priorities", but direct grants would be reduced, with British aid directed through multilateral programmes or investment partnerships. She said that at least 90% of bilateral development aid programmes would focus on women and girls, integrating gender equality criteria.

Bilateral funding to G20 countries would be phased out, except for Turkey, where the UK would continue to fund refugee support. "We will focus on areas that maximise impact, transform lives and promote stability, creating jobs and economic opportunities as a path out of poverty," she stressed.

BM/LYT // ADB.

Lusa