This essay will address the ways in which international development organisations working in Africa should approach the issues surrounding ‘Witchcraft’ accusations and their potential to incur Human rights violations. Accusations of Witchcraft and their surrounding rituals are a pressing Human rights failure and a significant development crisis that has had a large effect on many African nations. The topic of witchcraft brings significant baggage in relation to global human rights, as its primary victims are vulnerable women, such as the elderly, children, and Women with disabilities (UNICEF, 2010; UNHCR, 2009; Amnesty International, 2025). Within this essay two case studies of Malawi and Ghana will be discussed to examine how real world reform efforts have been utilized by development organisations.
Heavy debate surrounds the topic of development and universal rights, as we must address the fact that in implementing a global ban on witchcraft trials and practices, we run the risk of enforcing modern-day colonialism. This essay proposes a multi-level approach that international organisations can utilise, moving away from simply enforcing Western standards while maintaining a global standard for legal protection and the right to a fair trial. This essay will also reference the core ideas of the African thought of ‘Ubuntu’ and how its ideas of Human togetherness can aid in restoring the protection of vulnerable individuals, strengthening cultural ideas, and increasing community bonds (Murithi, 1999).
A Witchcraft accusation occurs when a person, primarily a woman, is accused of possessing supernatural abilities that can cause harm to others. These accusations arise after incidents of misfortune, such as illness, crop failure, and livestock deaths. The act of witchcraft is deeply rooted within many African cultures, often used to explain natural phenomena. What starts as a simple suspicion and accusations can quickly turn into community panic and Mob violence (Hund, 2000).
Throughout history, in both the development world and the academic world, the belief and act of witchcraft have been viewed as due to a lack of education, ignorance and something that would be eradicated with modern development and colonialism, this theory is referred to as the ‘rationalist’ argument. However, having a preconception that a non-Western tradition is purely irrational can have serious issues in discourse. Traditional Rationalist views are often far too simple, as the core nature of development work is to reduce inequality and harm, which contrasts with the idea that we should erase a cultural practice. This approach, however, ignores the social function of such beliefs in making sense of misfortune and maintaining a moral code (Ashforth & Adam, 2005). By fully dismissing these claims, it works to reduce cooperation and development, as local communities can feel mocked and alienated for their traditional beliefs. The aim shouldn't be to fully get rid of traditional beliefs, it should be to reform them into a way that both serves global human rights and addresses the core issue of violence and discrimination as well as local and cultural traditions (UNHCR, 2009; Amnesty International, 2025).
The concept of rational thinking should be applied to design systems and safeguards that protect individuals from harm. This is significantly reinforced through the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 47/8 (2021), which highlights the issue surrounding witchcraft practices, condemning the Human rights violations created by the killings, torture, and exile, rather than trying to eradicate the cultural practice. A further action that could be utilized by international organisations is economic programs, which could link ideas of work and innovation to wealth and success rather than witchcraft intervention. These programs could encourage thinking based on evidence while still respecting traditional cultural diversity, making rationality a tool of empowerment rather than control.
Education is a key tool that could be leveraged by international organisations. Culturally respectful health campaigns can provide key scientific explanations related to disabilities and diseases, allowing locals to better understand the causes and effects (Amnesty International, 2025). For example, education centred around mental health can help communities understand the behavioural changes without resorting to supernatural explanations.
While rationality can help establish justice and support, the Ancient African proverb ‘Ubuntu’ can help provide the ethical and emotional foundations required for reconciliation. The phrase, which is derived from southern African culture, Ubuntu is a very hard word to translate as it often has many different meanings but it is most commonly translated as “I am, because we are” or “A person is a person, through other people”, emphasizing compassion, dignity and community (Murithi, 2009; Tutu, 1999; Igwebuike and Ubuntu, 2019).
Accusations of witchcraft can violate this idea as it creates fear, exclusion, and violence, additionally, when a victim is expelled or killed the community loses a part of its collective humanity. As Desmond Tutu (1999) notes, the ethics of ubuntu focuses on restoring peace and mutual recognition, making a powerful system for addressing this harm. Ubuntu, if used correctly, can be a vital aid in building development strategies that can promote restorative development, aiming not only to punish the perpetrators but also to help maintain the strong sense of community.
Programs providing social care, livelihood support, and public reintegration can be used to heal trauma and be significant in rebuilding community relations (Amnesty International, 2025). Furthermore, working with trusted traditional and religious leaders can ensure that there is a message of peace and protection, which is delivered through respected voices, increasing community power (Amnesty International, 2025). By utilizing and embedding Human rights goals within Ubuntu, interventions move from being externally imposed to internally wanted, allowing communities to see justice and compassion as one.
An effective and sustainable response to violations caused by witchcraft accusations must combine both rationality and ubuntu. Rationality ensures justice and institutional strength, while ubuntu creates empathy and a sense of healing for the community. Used together, both ideas create a balanced understanding for development to work from, addressing both the structural and moral aspects of witchcraft related violence. In practice, development programs could pair legal aid with community reconciliation. Economic empowerment initiatives can reduce suspicion and jealousy, while cooperation with faith and leaders can promote compassion and forgiveness. This dual approach protects the rights of individuals while helping to restore the collective trust. By centring Development interventions in Ubuntu, Development organisations can create local ownership and long-term sustainable development. This integration transforms witchcraft related violence from a foreign human rights issue into a local and social concern.
However, it is crucial to recognize and understand that well intentioned international organisations focusing on reforming witchcraft accusations can run the risk of inadvertently reproducing colonial patterns of authority and erasure of cultural practices. Scholars such as Merry (2006) have provided the argument that human rights discourses are often “vernacularized”, which means they are translated into local contexts through outside sources who reshape them based on their own cultural norms and understandings. This means that without proper consideration, external actors risk reinforcing a hierarchy between the global north and south. While discussing the context of witchcraft accusations and the related violence, this could occur when international organisations impose Western standards without considering how justice is locally understood.
A counter to this issue, development organisations should use participatory approaches that allow those most affected, such as Women, elders, and traditional healers, to help design solutions that reflect their own social realities (Cornwall & Rivas, 2015). Poverty and unemployment can create an environment where misfortune can be easily linked to the interference of witchcraft rather than systemic inequalities, therefore reducing witchcraft related violence means first tackling inequality as well as systems of belief. By including traditional leaders and authorities in these programs, it can make sure that the messages of equality and cooperation are framed and discussed in a way that local communities can better understand. The integration of the ethics of ubuntu in poverty alleviation programs allows international development organisations to emphasise the collective benefit of shared and community success, which can help reinforce the idea that one person's success enhances the wellbeing of all in the community (Murithi, 2006).
Two countries that have been significantly affected by witchcraft accusations are Malawi in southern Africa and Ghana in northwest Africa. Case studies from both countries highlight the human rights implications of witchcraft accusations and provide key lessons for development organisations in addressing these accusations. In Malawi, a mobile legal aid clinic operated by the Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic and the Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) found that most accused individuals were older women blamed for misfortune in the community such as child illness or death. The clinic found that many of the accused were subjected to mob violence, exile and imprisonment. However, community based intervention and measures, such as legal education and collaboration with local leaders, proved effective in reducing the rights violations and encouraged reconciliation. This demonstrates that legal aid and local participation can coexist within a rights-based approach.
In northern Ghana, Amnesty International (2025) found that hundreds of women who had been accused of witchcraft are forced to live in camps designed for witches. Many were expelled from their own villages and communities after being blamed for illness, death, or misfortune. The report reveals that there is significant state neglect as residents face hunger, unsafe housing, lack of clean water, and poor access to healthcare. Amnesty International urges the Ghanaian government to implement an awareness campaign, criminalise witchcraft related abuse, and invest in social protection and the livelihoods of local women to prevent further accusations. While looking at both case studies, it shows that accusations of witchcraft are not isolated cultural issues but symptoms of inequality, poverty and gender discrimination. International development organisations such as Amnesty International must therefore address the root causes while promoting community and protection.
In conclusion, a witchcraft accusation within African societies can represent the complex link between culture, belief and the upholding of human rights. While these practices have, throughout history, been framed through a Western view as being primitive thought and lacking in rationality, these interpretations overlook the key social, moral, and historical function witchcraft plays. Approaching witchcraft accusations solely through a rationalist or a legal framework creates the risk of alienating local communities and reproducing colonialist ideas. Instead, international development organisations can adopt an inclusive and sensitive approach that integrates both human rights and indigenous values. The principles of Ubuntu, which focus on compassion, community dependence and human togetherness, offer a moral building block for reconciliation and restorative justice, transforming responses from punitive to healing. In combining rationality's focus on justice and Ubuntu's emphasis on empathy, development efforts can move far beyond externally imposed ideas of reform. A combination of education initiatives, economic empowerment, and discussions including the local communities can play vital roles in dismantling the structural inequalities that fuel ideas of witchcraft and violence. A fully decolonised approach to development has to acknowledge that human rights are not foreign or Western concepts, but universal ideas that can and should be expressed through local cultures. Through participation, understanding, and respect for African philosophies such as Ubuntu, international organisations can promote sustainable peace and development that ensures the most vulnerable are protected without erasing the cultural identities that give meaning to their communities.
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