| Abstract: | The article deals with challenges of implementing humanitarian policies in Ghana and Uganda by unravelling the roles of various actors and their narratives. In Northern Uganda the discrepancy between articulations and implementations of a humanitarian policy on needs is explored. In Ghana the disconnection between enunciations and policy practices around the ‘right to return’ is studied. Although different, these cases provide complementary insights into policy implementation. Serious differences between agencies’ aims and their implementation outcomes are revealed. Both cases demonstrate that the voices of affected people are muted or ignored in the implementation of humanitarian policies. They highlight the importance of consultations and consensus-making processes, and the need for re-mapping the policies and practices of humanitarian aid. |
