‘A global force for good’: Four pillars for UK leadership on gender equality

Four key pillars will put Britain in a global leadership position and make a lasting difference to the world’s poorest women and girls. 

Executive summary

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) emerges at a watershed moment for women and girls’ rights. Covid-19, the climate emergency and humanitarian crises have exposed the entrenched legacies of gender inequality, leading to disproportionate impacts on women and girls.

The combined expertise of DFID and FCO leaves the new FCDO well-equipped to lead on robust policy for a sustainable, evidence-based approach to UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) with gender equality at its heart. The UK has long held an influential position on women’s rights, as a key proponent of Sustainable Development Goal 5 and now co-lead of the UN Action Coalition on Gender Based Violence. Advancing women’s rights and leadership sits at the core of what it means to be a truly global Britain.

ActionAid knows, from working with the world’s poorest people across 45 countries, what efficient and effective ODA looks like.

In Autumn 2020, we will launch a report which analyses 10 years of the UK’s aid spend against its commitments on gender equality. We looked at how the UK fares against other OECD DAC donors, building on insights from development and humanitarian actors.

This short paper combines this evidence with our technical expertise from working on the frontline, to provide practical recommendations to the FCDO. These focus on four key pillars that will put Britain in a global leadership position and make a lasting difference to the world’s poorest women and girls.