Human rights organizations are increasingly interested in employing video to advance and strengthen their advocacy. But most groups are not equipped or experienced enough to make the most of video and other forms of media. WITNESS collaborates with NGOs worldwide - our "partners" - to bridge the gap between conventional campaigns and campaigns that incorporate video into advocacy to accelerate the process of human rights reform.

Since there are many more innovative human rights groups that seek WITNESS' support each year than we can work with directly, we have a multi-prong approach intended to simultaneously enhance the depth and breadth of our work, consisting of the Core Partners portfolio, the broader WITNESS Partner Network, and the Seeding Video Advocacy initiative of short-term trainings.

Please note: WITNESS is a nonprofit organization, not a grant-making foundation. We do not provide cash grants to our partners.

Core Partners

To achieve the greatest impact, WITNESS focuses on providing intensive support for a maximum of 13-15 Core Partners in a given year. This Core consists of campaign-specific relationships of 1-3 years in length designed to achieve high impact and visibility. Since partnerships are staggered in length and stage of involvement, the Core Partner portfolio is constantly rejuvenated as concrete goals are achieved and new challenges undertaken. We invite you to read more about our Core Partnership program and about our current Core Partners.

*We are currently looking for new partner applications from organizations and coalitions campaigning on human rights in Asia Pacific. While applications are accepted on a rolling bases, we will prioritize those that come before 26 April 2008. Apply for Core Partnership here.

The Partner Network

Once the period of intensive collaboration with a Core Partner is over, each of these groups becomes a member of the WITNESS Partner Network. This network consists of all the human rights organizations with which we have worked since our founding, now numbering over 250. Read about how many of these partners have successfully used video to create change in WITNESS' Case Studies.

Seeding Video Advocacy

At the same time, we are employing a strategy called Seeding Video Advocacy which provides a broad number of short-term training seminars and workshops to groups (and occasionally individuals) that are not formally part of the Core Partners or the WITNESS Network. This groundbreaking model helps us dramatically increase the number of advocates we can train in a given year - enabling us to say "yes" to many deserving groups that are asking for our training, skills and experience, but who we do not have the capacity to serve in a partnership capacity, or do not meet our criteria for partnership. Read more about Seeding Video Advocacy.