A high-profile UK government programme to tackle sexual violence in conflict zones – launched by former foreign secretary Lord William Hague and Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie – has been criticised for falling far short of its ambitions and letting survivors down.

A review, published on Thursday by the aid watchdog, found that waning ministerial interest, severe funding cuts and a lack of senior leadership meant the scheme “never had a strategic vision” and as a result “nothing [was] done to translate … pledges into practical action”.

Launched in 2012, the preventing sexual violence in conflict initiative (PSVI), which is led by the Foreign Office, came under intense scrutiny after it was promoted by Hague and UN special envoy Jolie at a high-profile London summit. The summit was attended by 1,700 politicians, celebrities, survivors and their supporters, but was criticised for costing more than five times the 2015 UK budget for tackling rape in war zones.

Although the initiative was applauded for a number of achievements, among them an international protocol that has led to sexual violence convictions worldwide, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (Icai) said that, overall, the PSVI had “not fully delivered on its ambitions and is at risk of letting survivors down”.

A second summit focusing on sexual violence in conflict, hosted by Lord Ahmad, the prime minister’s special representative on preventing sexual violence in conflict, was due to be held in London in November but was postponed because of the general election. The rescheduled conference is expected later this year, and will focus on putting the needs of survivors first.

“The initiative benefited initially from strong political leadership, but after the departure of Lord Hague in mid-2014, leadership moved from the level of foreign secretary to special representative. Ministerial interest waned and the PSVI’s staffing and funding levels dropped precipitously during this time,” said the commission. “The initiative has no overarching strategy or theory of change, and programming has been fragmented across countries and between the three main contributing departments, the [Foreign Office], the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence.”

The watchdog added that while survivors needed long-term support that addresses the deep-rooted causes and effects of sexual violence, “most PSVI projects are subject to … one-year funding cycles, often obliging implementing partners to focus on symptoms and short-term fixes”. It added there was “little room for meaningful inclusion of survivors in programme design”.

“The 2014 summit made very clear the devastating impact of sexual violence in conflict, and the UK deserves credit for leading the way globally in tackling this vital but often neglected issue,” said Icai’s chief commissioner, Tamsyn Barton.

“We want to see government strengthen the way the initiative is managed, ensure that survivors’ voices are heard, and embed learning – which is crucial to the quality and impact of aid – into all of its activities. This will help ensure that the pledges made in 2014 are turned into practical action that makes a real difference.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Financial backing for the preventing sexual violence in conflict initiative has plummeted since Angelina Jolie and William Hague promoted it in 2014. Photograph: Nigel Stead/LSE/PA

Since 2014 the PSVI team budget has fallen from £15m a year, reaching £2m in 2019. An expert team assembled to be deployed to conflict areas to help gather evidence and support survivors has been cut from 70-plus people initially to fewer than 40.

Icai gave the initiative amber-red scores (denoting unsatisfactory achievement in most areas) for relevance and effectiveness, and a red score (generally poor achievement in most areas) for learning. It recommended measures to strengthen oversight, monitoring and evaluation; ensure that survivors are involved in the design of activities to support them; and the incorporation of systematic learning processes.

Delphine Valette, head of policy and advocacy at Women for Women International, said the UK government “must take the opportunity [offered by the rescheduled summit] to send a strong signal that they are taking Icai’s findings and recommendations seriously”.

“Although the 2014 global summit undoubtedly brought much-needed visibility to the issue of sexual violence in conflict – and UK leadership on this should be applauded – the PSVI has been missing a clear purpose and remit since then,” said Valette.

“It is essential that the initiative places a stronger focus on addressing the deep-rooted causes of gender-based violence in conflict and supporting locally led action, including through long-term and flexible funding for women’s rights organisations.”

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Maria Vlahakis, policy and advocacy manager for violence against women and girls at Womankind Worldwide, said: “Sexual violence in conflict is complex and is still largely thought of in relation to violence committed by the state or armed actors. While these forms of violence are abhorrent and must be eliminated, more needs to be done to prevent and respond to the already high rates of violence against women and girls during and after periods of conflict, including unacceptably high levels of intimate partner violence.”

The Foreign Office said it was the only government in the world to have a special representative on preventing sexual violence in conflict, a dedicated team and funding focused on tackling conflict-related sexual violence. The PSVI team of experts had completed more than 90 deployments to places such as Bangladesh, Libya, northern Iraq and the Syrian borders since 2012, the department added.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the report did not “fully recognise the impact of the UK’s leadership on PSVI, which has mobilised the international community and brought real change for survivors”.

She added: “We have committed more than £46m since 2012, and our upcoming international conference will bring together multiple countries to focus on justice and accountability.”