Concern worldwide, the NGO that I work for, has an office in New York City. The team I work with within Concern is called strategy, advocacy and learning (SAL.) This past week, the Dublin office of Concern hosted SAL week; an annual meeting of all SAL divisions from every country. This includes countries such as Germany, France, Italy, The UK, and America. As of recently, the US office has lost a ton of USAID and OFDA funding for their programs due to new governance and therefore had a myriad of meetings this week to discuss possibilities.

Essentially, my past week was spent with a bunch of Americans and it really felt like I had never left. We discussed how Trump’s presidency would affect the US office as well as likely have a huge impact on the Dublin office and all other offices. Furthermore, the global environment leaves a threat to be considered with the likes of Brexit. With the looming political change the future is somewhat uncertain for NGOs.

As Ireland’s largest NGO, both Concern Worldwide and Concern US are making headway in humanitarian rights delivery and they play an important role in global development and in the global economy.  With the current political landscape changing so quickly this could mean trouble for NGOs in all countries, with repercussions globally.