Who Is Empowered When NGOs Address Human Rights Issues Related to Local Tradition?

Abstract: It is argued that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has close ties to local religious traditions. At the same time, the international community has agreed on eliminating FGM. Therefore, this thesis investigates the friction between a local tradition and international pressure. Using the method of qualitative content analysis, the thesis analyses the reports from three different international non- governmental organizations (NGOs) to examine how they have designed their programme for eliminating FGM. Three organizations were selected on the basis of their attitude towards religion, as FGM is closely linked to local religious traditions. The results of the reports are analysed using a coding scheme based on theories of religion as a social construction, approaches to human rights and power structures. This paper discovered that an NGO's relationship to religion influences who participates in the programme, and that all of the organizations recognized that they require assistance from local actors to gain access to local communities to implement social change. Findings show that each organization fills a gap the others fail to access. Together, the three development programmes include a large local population as well as national agencies.