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Witnessing Realities. Defending Rights. Building Sustainable Peace Since 2010.

We witness what others overlook, Then we act.

About us

Established in 2010 and evolving from the foundational legacy of Films 4 Peace Foundation, Witness Foundation is a premier peacebuilding organization in Bangladesh. Operating at the unique intersection of rigorous ground research and evidence-based video advocacy, we do not simply report on societal inequalities we bear witness to lived realities, amplify the voices of vulnerable communities, and translate grassroots evidence into actionable policy transformation across national and international decision-making platforms."

WHY witness?

A Locally Rooted Model for Sustainable Change in Bangladesh

Community Access at the Core

Meaningful development begins with trust, local knowledge, and consistent engagement. A locally rooted, nationally registered organisation in Bangladesh can respond to community priorities with insight and flexibility. Deep access to communities helps ensure that programmes reflect lived realities rather than relying only on distant assumptions. This connection also strengthens participation, improves accountability, and supports solutions that are more likely to endure.

Leadership Built on Inclusion and Accountability

A majority-women staff brings valuable perspectives to programme design, implementation, and decision-making. Their leadership can help ensure that gender considerations are integrated across every area of work. Oversight from a seven-member independent governing board adds another important layer of accountability. With gender balance, clear responsibilities, and independent supervision, the organisation is positioned to make thoughtful decisions and maintain strong institutional standards.

Evidence, Partnerships, and Transparent Delivery

Experience working with international donors and coalition partners provides a strong foundation for responsible delivery. A record of implementation, supported by verified data and transparent reporting, allows partners to assess progress and learn from results. Reliable evidence strengthens programme quality, while open communication builds confidence among communities, donors, and collaborators. Together, local legitimacy, inclusive leadership, independent governance, interconnected thematic expertise, and evidence-based practice form a practical model for sustainable change in Bangladesh. It offers partners a clear way to support focused initiatives while contributing to a wider vision of safer, more equitable, and more resilient communities.

Why This Work Matters?

Unsafe migration. Extremism. Disinformation. Religious and social division. Climate-driven conflict. They read like five separate problems  but in the communities we work in, they share one root, and one fix.

Unsafe migration, violent extremism, disinformation, and climate-driven conflict all prey on the same gap: a young person with no trusted place to turn, no decent option at home, and no real say in decisions that shape their future.

Youth empowerment is what closes that gap. Give a young person real skills, a creative outlet, and a genuine role in their community, and the same person a smuggler, a scammer, or an extremist recruiter might otherwise target becomes the one mediating the next dispute before it turns violent. That is why we treat safe migration, digital safety, countering extremism, religious and social tolerance, and environmental peace as one connected strategy, built around young people and the whole community around them — not six separate programmes competing for attention. Build peaceful, empowered young people, and you build a peaceful society.

Safe Migration

Decent, trusted alternatives

Youth & Community Empowerment

Countering Extremism

a voice before extremists offer one

Digital Safety

skills to spot what's fake

Social Cohesion, Religious Tolerance

a real stake in their own community, across religious lines

Environmental Peace

leadership when the climate shifts

Peacebuilding

the practice that ties all of it together

Our Programmes

Four pillars, one connected strategy each feeds the others.

Learn more

Safe & Fair Labour Migration Governance

As one of four national civil society organisations working together in equal partnership and with mutual dignity on labour migration reform, we build and test community-based grievance and mediation mechanisms that give migrants and their families a faster, cheaper route to redress than the formal system offers.

Youth & Community Empowerment

Through participatory filmmaking, sport, music, and leadership training, we equip young people — including in migration-origin communities such as Cox's Bazar — with the skills to become peacebuilders, pursue decent work and safe study opportunities, and lead in their own communities.

Social Cohesion, Religious Tolerance & Peacebuilding

Our flagship Peace Film Festival, sports and music engagements, and community dialogue programmes bring host communities, displaced populations, and local government together to counter disinformation, resist extremism, and build religious and social tolerance.

Environmental Peace

We treat climate resilience as a peacebuilding issue — helping communities adapt to climate-related hazards without falling into resource conflict — and connect the Bangladeshi diaspora back into national development as investors and skills partners, not just a workforce.

Get Involved

Ready to help build a peaceful society?
Every figure on this page started with one partnership, one training, one conversation. Here's where yours could start.

Become a monthly partner

Recurring support lets us plan training cycles and mediation work months ahead instead of project to project.

Sponsor a training or programme

Fund a specific cohort  a digital-safety training, a filmmaking workshop, a community dialogue series, peace film festival, and see exactly what it delivers.