Leaders at large bilateral donor agencies and the word “powerless” aren’t a common combination, but it’s how Sally Gear sometimes feels after a meeting with an impressive small organization.
Gear, head and strategic lead on gender for the Sustainable Energy Unit at the U.K. Department for International Development, shared why a good meeting can be frustrating at Thursday’s FHI 360 Gender Summit in Washington, D.C.
“It’s very hard for us to give small grants,” she said. “We are in a world where the incentives are to give big amounts of money — ideally to one organization — so there is less staff needed to operationalize … Great organizations will come and I’ll have a meeting ... I feel quite powerless [to help].”
Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).
About the author
Kelli Rogers@kellierin
Kelli Rogers has worked as an Associate Editor and Southeast Asia Correspondent for Devex, with a particular focus on gender. Prior to that, she reported on social and environmental issues from Nairobi, Kenya. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and has reported from more than 20 countries.
