International Women’s Day 2026

Approximate read time: 15 minutes

The House of Lords is scheduled to debate the following motion on 6 March 2026:

Baroness Lloyd of Effra to move that this House takes note of International Women’s Day.

Baroness Lloyd is a government whip and a minister in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Business and Trade.

1. International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) occurs on 8 March every year. It has its roots in the early 20th century labour movement.^[1] In the first half of the 20th century there were events marking IWD in Europe; these were associated with the labour movement and socialist groups. The first country to recognise IWD as a national holiday was Russia, in 1922, and it was celebrated by other communist governments in the 1920s and 1930s. IWD began to gain popularity in the US and UK in the 1960s, and was adopted by the UN in 1975. It is marked around the world and is a national holiday in some countries.

The UN’s theme for IWD 2026 is “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL women and girls”.^[2] The UN argues a focus on justice is necessary because “no nation has closed the legal gaps between men and women” and “women have only 64 per cent of the legal rights that men hold worldwide”. The UN states that key elements of equal justice include that:

• rights are defended and protected
• laws are enforced
• access to education is legally protected
• child marriage is ended
• women have the freedom to choose to work, participate and lead in society
• gender-based violence is ended
• family, labour and healthcare laws do not discriminate against women
• justice systems are “free of bias, centred on survivors, and backed by zero tolerance for abuse and impunity”
• legal aid is affordable and accessible

2. Sustainable development goal on gender equality

In 2015, UN member states adopted the ‘2030 agenda for sustainable development’ and its 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 169 associated targets.^[3] The goals cover issues ranging from poverty and gender equality to waste reduction and achieving sustainable consumption and production. The SDGs are the successors to the millennium development goals agreed in 2001: eight goals with 18 associated targets for human development, most of which had a target deadline of 2015.

Goal number five of the SDGs is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. This goal contains nine targets:

• 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
• 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
• 5.3: Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
• 5.4: Recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.
• 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.
• 5.6: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the ‘Programme of action of the International Conference on Population and Development’ and the ‘Beijing declaration and platform for action’ and the outcome documents of their review conferences.
• 5.a: Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
• 5.b: Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women.
• 5.c: Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.

In its 2025 statement on progress towards the gender equality goal, the UN wrote that “gender equality remains elusive”.^[4] It argued that legal barriers persist, women and girls still do an unequal share of domestic and care work, growth in the political representation of women is slow and many women still do not have autonomy over their sexual and reproductive health. It provided the following update on progress against the goal’s targets:

• Target 5.1: In 61 of the 131 countries for which data is available, there was at least one restriction preventing women from doing the same jobs as men. Only 38 countries had made 18 the minimum age for marriage, with no exceptions, and 63 countries had laws on rape that were based on a lack of consent.
• Target 5.3: One in five young women between the ages of 20 and 24 years were first married or in a union before the age of 18. Child marriage has become less common worldwide; this trend was largely driven by progress in southern Asia. The level remains highest in sub-Saharan Africa, at 31%. Around the world, over 230 million girls and women have undergone female genital mutilation.
• Target 5.4: By 2023, women and girls were spending an average of 2.5 times more hours per day on domestic and care work than men.
• Target 5.5: In 2024, the share of parliamentary seats held by women was 27.2%, up from 22.3% in 2015. In local governments, the participation rate was higher, at 35.5%. Since 2015, the representation of women in management has increased by 2.4%, reaching 30 percent in 2023. At current rates of progress it would take almost 100 years to reach gender parity in managerial roles.
• Target 5.6: 56.3% of women between the ages of 15 and 49 who are married or in a union have full decision-making power over their sexual and reproductive health and rights, according to data from 78 countries. The lowest level of autonomy was reported in sub-Saharan Africa, at 36.8%, compared with 87.2% in Europe.
• Target 5.a: In 80% of countries for which data is available, less than half of women have ownership of, or secure rights to, agricultural land. In half of these countries, it is also the case that less than half of men hold such rights. In almost half of countries, the rate of landownership among men is at least double the rate among women. A global assessment of legal frameworks protecting women’s land rights across 84 countries showed that 58% of those countries have “inadequate” measures in family, inheritance, and land laws and policies.
• Target 5.b: Globally, 77% of women and 82% of men owned a mobile telephone in 2024. Women were about 7% less likely to own a mobile telephone than men, down from 9.4% in 2021. Among those not owning mobile telephones, women outnumbered men by 31%.

3. UK government aid for gender equality

3.1 Aid for women and girls

The UK government provides support for developing countries through official development assistance (ODA). The 2010–15 coalition government made a commitment to spend 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) on ODA from 2013 and the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015 later set the commitment as a statutory duty.^[5] In 2014 the International Development Act 2002, which sets out the legislative framework for ODA, was amended to require the government to consider how ODA can reduce poverty in a way that is likely to also reduce gender inequality.^[6]

The majority of UK ODA is provided directly for programmes in other countries (bilaterally).^[7] The rest of UK ODA is provided to multilateral institutions, such as the UN, or spent within the UK on support for refugees and asylum seekers.

In the ‘International women and girls strategy 2023–2030’ the previous, Conservative government said that it would “commit to at least 80% of FCDO’s [the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s] bilateral aid programmes having a focus on gender equality by 2030” as part of its goal to put women and girls at the centre of the FCDO’s operations and investment.^[8] In March 2025 the current government said it would continue to work towards this target. It said the commitment was “measured by the proportion of programmes, rather than by spend” because “this reflects our ambition for gender to be mainstreamed across all FCDO programmes”.^[9]

In 2024/25, the FCDO spent £490mn on education, gender and equality programmes, of which £378mn was spent on girls’ education.^[10] Some of the government’s other work on gender equality in 2024/25 included:^[11]

• support for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence though the ‘Preventing sexual violence initiative’
• working with women in Sudan as part of the UK’s ‘Women, peace and security’ commitments
• developing materials and providing training as part of the ‘Girls’ education and skills partnership’ with Nigeria and Bangladesh
• improving the position and safety of women in global supply chains through the ‘Women’s economic leadership and empowerment’ programme

In March 2025, the government appointed Baroness Harman to the new role of UK special envoy for women and girls.^[12] Part of this role is to “coordinate efforts across the globe to ensure women and girls are empowered and have their rights protected, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, access to education, and freedom from gender-based violence”.

Recent announcements of UK aid for women and girls include:

• £20mn to support survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan^[13]
• funding for midwives, emergency medical supplies for new mothers and menstrual hygiene kits in Gaza^[14]

3.2 Trends in aid spending

The UK spent 0.7% of GNI on ODA between 2013 and 2020 in line with the statutory duty. However, in 2020 the then government announced a temporary reduction in ODA spend to 0.5% of GNI from 2021, as permitted under the 2015 act. The government cited economic challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason for the reduction.^[15] The ODA to GNI ratio increased to 0.51% and 0.58% in 2022 and 2023 respectively due to increased ODA spending within the UK associated with supporting refugees.^[16]

In February 2025 the current government announced it would reduce ODA spending further, to the equivalent of 0.3% of GNI by 2027, to fund an increase in defence and security spending.^[17] The House of Commons Library noted this would bring UK ODA spending to its lowest level since 1999.^[18]

In July 2025 the government confirmed it was “committed to restoring ODA spending at the level of 0.7% of GNI as soon as fiscal circumstances allow”.^[19] It continued:

The principles for a return will be met when, on a sustainable basis, the government is not borrowing for day-to-day spending and underlying debt is falling. We will monitor future forecasts closely against these tests. The latest forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility indicates that the tests will not be met in this parliament. The government is working hard to create the conditions to enable the ODA fiscal tests to be met by prioritising growth—stronger growth will help in time to get underlying debt down.

3.2 Impact of aid cuts on gender equality work

A government assessment of the impact of the spending reductions found that there would be negative impacts on equality (measured primarily in terms of gender and disability) as a result of reductions in bilateral aid.^[20] However, protected spending, in the areas of multilateral, humanitarian, financial transactions, international climate finance, and research and development spending would have a positive impact on equality. Overall, the assessment found the cuts would reduce positive impacts on equalities but would not have a disproportionate effect.

Areas where cuts would have a negative impact include:

• a 25 percent reduction in the planned increase to the women, peace and security programme
• reductions in spending on education in Africa
• reductions in spending on women’s health, health systems strengthening and health emergency response in Africa
• reductions in social protection in Kenya

In addition, 10 of the 12 programmes put forward for closure or pause were equalities focused.

Responding to a question in the House of Commons about reductions in aid spending, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister Stephen Doughty said funding for gender equality continued to be a priority:

Of course, less money does not mean less action, and we see our work on women and girls as essential for development and our UK missions overseas. We have appointed Baroness Harman as a UK special envoy for women and girls. We are amplifying the voices of women’s organisations and movements, including in climate-affected contexts, and embedding gender equality across our international action.^[21]

4. Global aid for gender equality

Many donor countries have reduced spending on international aid in recent years. Between 2023 and 2024 ODA from official donors fell for the first time in five years.^[22] The amount donated in 2024 was 9% lower than that in 2023, and the OECD predicts official figures, not yet available, will show a decline of a further 9–17% in 2025.^[23]

The OECD states this decline is driven by cuts by four major providers of ODA: the US, France, Germany and the UK. The largest cuts are being made by the US, which reduced its spending from $61.8bn in 2024 to $38.4bn in 2025, a drop of approximately 38%.^[24] Spending by the US is expected to reduce further in 2026, to $28.4bn, leading to a total decrease between 2024 and 2026 of 54%. UK ODA is expected to decline less than that of the US but more than that of France and Germany in percentage terms: between 2024 and 2026 UK aid is expected to decline by 30%, compared to 23% for France and 22% for Germany.

Commenting on its plans to reduce aid spending, the US government said the administration was “committed to getting America’s fiscal house in order by cutting government spending that is woke, weaponized, and wasteful”, and that the aid spending it was cutting “violates the president’s America first priorities”.^[25] The German government has cited a need for increased defence spending as well as increased spending on domestic priorities as reasons for its cuts.^[26]

US thinktank the Center for Global Development argues that US ODA cuts have particularly impacted women and girls. It has found that cuts were significantly higher in maternal and child health, family planning and reproductive health than the average overall estimated cut to aid programmes, at over 90%.^[27]

A 2025 survey of women’s rights and women-led organisations conducted by the UN found they had been significantly affected by global cuts to ODA.^[28] It stated:

• 90% of organisations had been financially impacted
• 47% expected to shut down within six months if existing conditions persisted
• 72% had laid off staff
• 51% had suspended programming

Programmes and services in the areas of gender-based violence, protection, healthcare and livelihoods and multi-purpose cash assistance were the most affected.

5. Read more

• House of Commons International Development Committee, ‘Women, peace and security: Oral and written evidence’, accessed 20 February 2026
• House of Commons Library, ‘UK aid and women and girls’, 9 April 2025
• European Parliamentary Research Service, ‘Accelerating progress on sustainable development goal 5 (SDG 5): Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls’, September 2024

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Image from Freepik.