Lives at stake' as Sierra Leone almost entirely axed from UK aid budget

"The UK has been accused of quietly axing virtually all aid money to Sierra Leone, including a a 35m grant for maternal and newborn health the first example to emerge of a country losing out in the government's plans to shrink the global development budget by 40 per cent. The UK-funded programme to Sierra Leone was providing essential medicines and training in hospitals, as well as working to ensure access to blood"

"The UK-funded programme to Sierra Leone was providing essential medicines and training in hospitals, as well as working to ensure access to blood and testing for preventable causes of maternal death like pre-eclampsia (a serious complication causing high blood pressure). Run by a consortium of charities including Concern Worldwide and Helen Keller International, it will see its funding reduced from 35m to 1m by 2027, before closing."

Reporters are deployed to cover reproductive rights, climate change, Big Tech and related investigations, and to produce documentaries spotlighting American women fighting for reproductive rights. Donations fund the deployment of journalists and allow reporting to remain accessible without paywalls, financed by those who can afford it. The UK has been accused of axing virtually all aid money to Sierra Leone, including a 35m grant for maternal and newborn health, as part of plans to shrink the global development budget by 40%. The affected programme supplied medicines, hospital training, and worked to ensure access to blood and testing for preventable maternal-death causes such as pre-eclampsia. A consortium of charities including Concern Worldwide and Helen Keller International ran the programme; funding is due to fall from 35m to 1m by 2027 before closing. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office signalled that some countries would stop receiving aid, while grants to countries were reported to be cut quietly behind the scenes.

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