Paper short abstract:

Localization enhances the effectiveness of NGOs providing humanitarian assistance to residents of witches' camps in Northern Ghana. NGOs that take a localized and culturally sensitive approach improve their legitimacy and the acceptance of their programs in local communities.

Paper long abstract:

Researchers have debated whether the activities of right-based NGOs exacerbate or ameliorate the experience of residents of witches' camps in Northern Ghana. Some scholars have argued that NGOs overemphasize the individual rights of alleged witches over the concerns of their families and communities. Based on my research on three NGOs working in witches' camps in Ghana, I argue that such generalizations about their approaches to witchcraft-related violence do not account for the diversity within local rights-based NGOs. Some of these organizations adopt a localized approach to address the savage-victim-savior complex in humanitarian practice and human discourses to ensure the local acceptance of their intervention strategies. The Go Home Project, for instance, is based in the Gambaga and collaborates with indigenous spiritual experts, families, communities, and donor agencies to negotiate repatriations and re-integrations and sensitize communities without explicitly rejecting local views about witchcraft. This decolonizing and culturally sensitive approach to implementing their interventions makes the organization effective in dealing with the plight of residents and potential residents of the accused witches' settlement at Gambaga.