UK Government Slashes £35 Million Funding for Sierra Leone to £1 Million, Cuts Nearly All Development Aid

The United Kingdom has drastically reduced its development assistance to Sierra Leone, effectively eliminating nearly all bilateral aid, including a major £35 million grant dedicated to improving maternal and newborn health.

The Independent reports thay the cuts represent the first clear example of a country-specific impact from the UK government’s broader plan to reduce its global development budget by 40%.

The axed programme, managed by a consortium including Concern Worldwide and Helen Keller International, provided essential medicines, staff training, and supported access to blood supplies and testing for life-threatening conditions like pre-eclampsia in hospitals across Sierra Leone. Funding for the programme will now be slashed from £35 million to just £1 million by 2027 before it closes entirely.

A separate component delivered by UNICEF, which supplied crucial medicines for pregnancy and childbirth and established special care units for premature and sick newborns, is also set to end in March. This sudden halt raises immediate concerns about how the Sierra Leonean government will cover these vital healthcare costs.

Suzanne Wooster, UNICEF’s spokesperson in Sierra Leone, stated, “Reductions in funding for newborn and child health risk disrupting essential services at a critical time.” She confirmed UNICEF is working with the government to mitigate the impacts.

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had previously indicated some countries would lose aid, but specifics had been scarce. Analysts note the cuts are being implemented discreetly.

“You’d hope that they’d be willing to be more transparent around some of these cuts given that lives are at stake,” said Pete Baker, deputy director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development think tank. He confirmed to The Independent that grants were being cut “quite quietly behind the scenes.”

Baker emphasized the severity of the decision, noting, “This is one of the poorest countries in the world. It’s got really terrible maternal mortality and child mortality rates.”

With a significantly smaller overall aid budget, the FCDO is now prioritizing contributions to large international funds like Gavi and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which have seen smaller cuts. The UK has also pledged to maintain humanitarian support for Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan, leaving little funding for direct bilateral programmes in other nations like Sierra Leone.

An FCDO spokesperson said the UK remains committed to sexual and reproductive health rights but must “modernise our approach to development reflect the changing global context.” They noted the UK has invested over £187.9 million in Sierra Leone’s health system over the past decade.

The FCDO was expected to detail further aid cuts this autumn, but publication has been delayed, likely until next year. Baker warned that the UK’s historic leadership and transparency in global health were at risk, stating, “I think that would be helpful for the public to understand” the scale of cuts to a former high-priority country like Sierra Leone.