Reviewed and updated 20 August 2026 against the latest official UK Government and parliamentary material located for this article.
By Aneeta Prem MBE
The UK’s flagship international programme dedicated to ending female genital mutilation is due to conclude in October 2026.
The programme, The Girl Generation: Africa-Led Movement to End FGM, supports locally led work to prevent FGM. In its response to the Women and Equalities Committee, the Government said the programme would conclude in October 2026 and that there were currently no plans for future funding.
That is a significant policy decision. It should also be described accurately.
The end of this flagship programme does not mean that every strand of UK funding connected to FGM is ending. The Government says FGM is also addressed through wider gender-based-violence programmes, including support for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women.
The question is therefore not whether the UK is doing nothing. It is whether ending a dedicated flagship programme creates a gap in long-term, locally led FGM prevention.
What is ending in October 2026?
The Girl Generation programme is funded through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and works with Africa-led organisations and movements seeking to end FGM.
Parliamentary material published in December 2025 confirmed that the programme was scheduled to conclude in October 2026.
The Chairs of the Women and Equalities Committee and International Development Committee warned that ending dedicated funding could put women and girls at greater risk and called for bilateral funding to continue beyond 2026.
That warning is a parliamentary committee position. It is not the same thing as a Government finding that harm will definitely increase.
What the Government says will continue
The Government’s response makes clear that FGM remains part of wider gender-based-violence work.
It points to support for programmes including the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, which funds projects addressing FGM alongside other forms of violence.
Previous ministerial answers have also referred to UK contributions to the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of FGM and to funding delivered through the Girl Generation in countries including Kenya, Senegal, Somalia and Ethiopia.
So the accurate position is narrower than saying “UK funding for FGM is ending”.
A dedicated flagship programme is ending, while some broader multilateral and gender-based-violence funding continues.
Why dedicated funding can matter
FGM prevention depends on more than national legislation.
Community organisations, health professionals, survivor advocates, teachers, religious and traditional leaders and local campaigners can all be part of changing attitudes and protecting girls.
Dedicated programmes can provide continuity, specialist expertise and long-term relationships that are harder to sustain through short-term or more general funding streams.
That does not mean every programme should continue unchanged forever. Governments are entitled to review aid priorities and ask whether programmes are effective.
But where dedicated funding is withdrawn, it is reasonable to ask what evidence informed the decision, which activities will continue elsewhere and how progress will be measured after the programme closes.
The UK interest is not only overseas
FGM is prohibited in the UK, but safeguarding can cross borders.
UK citizens and residents may have family links to countries where FGM remains prevalent, and children can be at risk during overseas travel.
This is one reason parliamentary committees have linked international prevention work with domestic safeguarding.
The relationship should not be exaggerated: reducing FGM overseas does not automatically prevent every UK case. But international and domestic safeguarding are connected where families, travel and communities span more than one country.
Prevention and survivor care both matter
Funding debates can become focused entirely on preventing future cases.
Prevention is essential. So is care for women and girls already living with the consequences of FGM.
In the UK, current policy discussions include specialist health services, better professional training and research into reconstructive surgery. Those issues should not be treated as alternatives to international prevention.
A serious FGM strategy has to address both: stopping harm before it occurs and supporting survivors afterwards.
What should be transparent before October?
Before the flagship programme closes, the Government should make it easy to understand:
- which current projects end with the programme;
- which activities will continue through other funding streams;
- whether any successor dedicated FGM funding will be created;
- how local organisations will be supported through transition;
- how UK contributions to multilateral FGM programmes will change; and
- how the impact of the funding decision will be monitored.
Those are reasonable accountability questions regardless of political party.
Why this matters to my work
Through Freedom Charity, my work has included FGM prevention, safeguarding education and support for professionals and communities responding to risk.
I also wrote Cut Flowers to help young people understand FGM through a safeguarding story. The accompanying educational resources developed by Freedom Charity received the PSHE Association Quality Mark.
That distinction matters: the Quality Mark applies to the lesson resources, not to the novel itself.
Final word
As of 20 August 2026, the latest official position reviewed for this article is clear: the Girl Generation flagship programme is due to end in October, and the Government has said there are currently no plans for future funding for that programme.
It is equally clear that wider UK-funded gender-based-violence work continues to address FGM.
The responsible question is therefore not whether Britain has “walked away”. It is whether the funding that remains will preserve the specialist, long-term work needed to protect girls and support communities seeking to end FGM.
Ending a programme is a policy decision. Understanding what protection replaces it is an accountability question.
Sources and further reading
- UK Parliament: Government response on female genital mutilation
- UK Parliament: committee chairs on FGM programme funding
- UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of FGM
