General Article Government to cut aid to anti-gay countries

Topic Selected: Sexuality and Gender
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By Jessica Geen

Aid ‘fines’ may be imposed on countries such as Uganda and Ghana for hardline anti-gay laws, the Mail on Sunday reported.
Malawi, which sentenced a couple to 14 years’ hard labour for contravening anti-gay laws, has already had its aid cut by £19 million.

A spokesman for Mr Mitchell told the newspaper that the Government now regularly reviews aid-receiving countries on their commitments to human rights.

He said: ‘The Government is committed to combating violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in all circumstances, in this country and abroad. We take action where we have concerns.

‘We now allocate funds every three months, rather than every year, so that we can review a country’s performance, for example on human rights, and take swift action when governments fall short. We only provide aid directly to governments when we are satisfied that they share our commitments to reduce poverty and respect human rights.’

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