The fall in aid since 2025 is often described as a single event. In practice, it is the sum of decisions taken by individual governments, each with its own budget calendar and political reasons. RFLD’s 2026 data report, Funding Feminist Movements in Francophone West Africa, sets out what changed for the main donors. This article summarises that table and explains what each change means for women’s organisations in the region.
United States: the largest single cut
In January 2025, the United States ordered a near-total freeze of foreign aid. In March 2025, the cancellation of 83% of USAID programmes was announced, and in July 2025 USAID was absorbed into the State Department. United States aid fell by 56.9% in 2025, which accounted for about three quarters of the global decline (IISD, 2026; NPR, 2025). US funding for family planning and reproductive health fell by an estimated 94% (Focus 2030, 2026b).
RFLD was among those affected. In 2025 it lost US$1 million in planned funding, and three of its projects were terminated.
United Kingdom: from 0.7% to 0.3%
The United Kingdom gave 0.7% of its gross national income as aid in 2020. This fell to 0.5% in 2024 and a provisional 0.43% in 2025, and the government plans to reach 0.3% by 2027 (House of Lords Library, 2026). Allocations to gender and equality programmes were cut by 42%, from £490 million in 2024/25 to £284 million in 2025/26 (Bond, 2025).
France: the region’s main partner
For francophone West Africa, French decisions matter most. The 2026 budget cuts development payment credits under Programme 209 by 22%, from €1,976.9 million to €1,541.9 million, and commitment authorisations by 35.4%. Bilateral commitments fall by 52.4% and multilateral commitments by 74.5% (Sénat, 2025). French aid to women’s rights organisations had already fallen by 71% between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 (Focus 2030, 2026a).
Germany: a slower decline
The budget of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) falls from €10.3 billion in 2025 to about €10 billion in 2026, with €9.5 billion planned for 2027 (Devex, 2026). The cut is smaller than elsewhere. Germany also remains an active partner of feminist organisations in the region: the SEA-T programme, funded by BMZ and implemented by GIZ, finances the nine sub-grants that RFLD manages in 2026 and 2027.
The Netherlands: a structural cut and a new programme
The Netherlands announced a structural cut of €2.4 billion a year from 2027. In 2025, it ended its support to the Leading from the South programme and to UN Women (Donor Tracker, 2025). It has since launched a new FemFocus programme for 2026 to 2030, with €209 million for Africa and the Middle East, including the Sahel; this last point was still to be confirmed at the time the report was published (Darpe, 2025).
Sweden and Canada
Sweden is phasing out bilateral strategies in several countries from 2025, while keeping a gender equality strategy of SEK 800 million for 2025 to 2028 (Sida, 2025; Government of Sweden, 2025). Sweden ended its development aid to Mali in 2024 and maintains only limited cooperation with Burkina Faso, mostly earmarked food security funding, since the 2022 coups.
Canada cut international assistance by CAD 2.7 billion over four years in its 2025 budget (CARE Canada, 2025). Its Women’s Voice and Leadership programme, which funded 789 women’s rights organisations by 2021, launched a renewed phase in Dakar in December 2025, but within a smaller overall envelope.
What the table hides
Each of these decisions has a direct effect on francophone West Africa. Several donors have also excluded countries such as Niger and Burkina Faso from recent funding calls because of their political situation. Women’s organisations in those countries lose access to funding precisely when civic space is closing and humanitarian needs are growing.
The OECD projects that bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa will fall by 11.6% in 2026 (OECD, 2026). For organisations that depend on one bilateral partner, a single budget vote in a European capital can decide whether a shelter stays open in Benin or a legal clinic continues in Senegal.
A calendar of decisions
For organisations in the region, knowing the budget calendar of each donor has become a survival skill. US decisions came by executive order in early 2025. The UK cuts were announced in stages towards a target of 0.3% of gross national income by 2027. France’s cuts appear in the annual finance law voted each December. Germany and the Netherlands plan cuts over several years. RFLD’s report asks donors to give partners early warning of changes, so that organisations can plan and protect the services women rely on.
Key figures
- 56.9%: the fall in United States aid in 2025.
- 42%: the cut to UK allocations for gender and equality programmes.
- 52.4%: the fall in France’s bilateral development commitments in 2026.
- CAD 2.7 billion: Canada’s cut to international assistance over four years.
RFLD’s request to donors
RFLD asks every donor that still funds gender equality to protect the share that reaches women’s organisations directly, to publish it and to channel it through intermediaries rooted in the region. Funders who wish to discuss partnerships can write to gbenagnon.john@rflgd.org or visit the Africa Grant Portfolio.
About the report
This article draws on RFLD’s data report Funding Feminist Movements in Francophone West Africa: 2026 Data (RFLD/DR/2026/03), published on 4 October 2026. Read the summary of the report, download the English edition or the French edition. Sources cited in this article are listed in full in the report.
