International NGOs will keep growing, despite a drive for more funds to go to locally led organizations in the global south, according to Sam Worthington, the CEO of InterAction, an alliance of U.S. NGOs.
In an interview for last week’s Devex World conference, he highlighted the strength of INGOs’ brands when raising money from the public. The balance of power within partnerships must shift, he said, but there will always be a tension between the desire for localization and the need to raise money.
Worthington warned that while many people want donors to hand more control of funds to locally led organizations, big donors in the global north are unlikely to change their approach and “simply give away resources without restrictions.”