WITNESS INC
80 HANSON PLACE NO 510, BROOKLYN, NY 11217 www.witness.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: WITNESS HELPS PEOPLE USE VIDEO AND TECHNOLOGY TO PROTECT AND DEFEND HUMAN RIGHTS.

TRAINING:THE CORNERSTONE OF WITNESS' PROGRAM MODEL IS BUILDING SKILLS AND CAPACITY WITH MARGINALIZED AND VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES USING VIDEO AND TECHNOLOGY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. OUR PRIORITY CROSS-CUTTING THEMES ADDRESS THE WORLD'S MOST COMPLEX AND URGENT CHALLENGES AND FOCUS ON THE MOST VULNERABLE GROUPS: WAR CRIMES; LAND DEFENSE; AND STATE VIOLENCE. WE FILL CRITICAL GAPS IN THE USE OF VIDEO FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, ENSURING THAT VIDEOS CAN BE TRUSTED AND VERIFIED; THAT ACTIVISTS CAN STAY SAFE AND MANAGE RISK; THAT EVIDENTIARY VIDEOS CAN BE FOUND AMIDST MASS VOLUME; THAT MOVEMENTS AND GROUPS CAN USE VISUAL STORYTELLING IN STRATEGIC AND IMPACTFUL WAYS; (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)AND THAT NEW AND EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES CAN ENABLE GREATER CITIZEN PARTICIPATION.WE HAVE PROGRAM MANAGERS BASED IN FIVE REGIONS (ASIA & THE PACIFIC, LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN, MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, AND THE UNITED STATES) AROUND THE WORLD. EACH YEAR, THEY PROVIDE A SERIES OF IN-PERSON TRAININGS TO POOR COMMUNITIES, HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS, ACTIVISTS, JOURNALISTS, AND LAWYERS, SHARING CONCRETE RESOURCES, GUIDANCE, AND TOOLS AROUND THE SAFE, ETHICAL, AND EFFECTIVE USE OF VIDEO AND TECHNOLOGY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. BETWEEN JULY 2019 AND JUNE 2020, WITNESS TRAINED MORE THAN 1,300 INDIVIDUALS REPRESENTING AFFECTED COMMUNITIES IN AT LEAST 25 COUNTRIES, INCLUDING ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, ECUADOR, GUINEA, INDONESIA, LEBANON, MALAYSIA, MEXICO, PERU, PHILIPPINES, NIGERIA, AND THE UNITED STATES. TRAININGS COVERED A RANGE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES BEYOND JUST OUR CROSS-CUTTING PRIORITIES ABOVE, SUCH AS ELECTION VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE. TRAININGS ADDRESSED KEY SKILL SET AREAS, INCLUDING VIDEO AS EVIDENCE, VIDEO ADVOCACY, ARCHIVING, ETHICS, AND SECURITY. ALL TRAININGS WERE TAILORED TO THE LOCAL CONTEXT.

OUTREACH AND EDUCATION:COVID-19 HAS GREATLY ACCELERATED EXISTING HUMAN RIGHTS CHALLENGES. MEANWHILE, A GROWING NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE TURNING TO ONLINE SPACES TO MOBILIZE, COMMUNICATE, AND PARTICIPATE. FOR VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES, THESE DIGITAL TOOLS MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO SHARE FRONTLINE STORIES OF CRISIS, EXPOSE STATE VIOLENCE, AND PRESSURE THOSE IN POWER. AMID A GLOBAL PANDEMIC, WITNESS RECOGNIZES THE STRATEGIC POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL TO WIDELY DISTRIBUTE INFORMATION, AS WELL AS THE FACT THAT ACTIVISTS AND VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES WORLDWIDE ARE ALREADY TURNING TO THESE PLATFORMS TO COMMUNICATE, ADVOCATE, AND PARTICIPATE IN SOCIETY. (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)OUR GOAL IS THAT WHETHER A MEDIA ACTIVIST IN GUATEMALA EN ROUTE TO FILM A POLITICAL PROTEST, A SURVIVOR OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN INDIA HOPING TO BRING VISIBILITY TO THE ISSUE AND ACHIEVE ACCOUNTABILITY; OR A MEMBER OF A PERSECUTED POPULATION IN BURMA TRYING TO PRESERVE FOOTAGE OF GENOCIDE, ANYONE, ANYWHERE CAN COME INTO CONTACT WITH OUR GUIDANCE AT THE CRITICAL MOMENT WHEN THEY NEED IT MOST, MAXIMIZING IMPACT AND REDUCING HARM. IN ORDER TO MEET THE DEMAND FOR OUR SUPPORT AND REACH MORE PEOPLE DIGITALLY THAN WE CAN IN-PERSON, WITNESS DEVELOPS EASY-TO-USE RESOURCES, ADAPTS THEM FOR COMMUNITIES FACING SIMILAR ISSUES AROUND THE WORLD, AND DISTRIBUTES THEM AS BROADLY AS POSSIBLE THROUGH STRATEGIC USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA. THROUGH OUR EXTENSIVE RESOURCE LIBRARY AND LANGUAGE-SPECIFIC WEBSITES IN ARABIC, FRENCH, PORTUGUESE, AND SPANISH, WE HAVE GREATLY INCREASED THE EASE AND ACCESSIBILITY OF OUR RESOURCES FOR BROAD AUDIENCES. ALL MATERIALS ARE OPEN-SOURCE AND AVAILABLE TO BE VIEWED, DOWNLOADED AND RE-MIXED THROUGH OUR LANGUAGE PAGES AND LIBRARY. THIS YEAR, WE HAD MORE THAN 945,000 MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENTS WITH OUR RESOURCES GLOBALLY. BY KEEPING A PULSE ON WHAT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT, CONFUSED ABOUT, CONCERNED ABOUT, OR EXCITED ABOUT GLOBALLY, WE ARE ABLE TO TAILOR OUR OUTREACH AND CATAPULT THAT KNOWLEDGE INTO KEY SPACES, GREATLY INCREASING OUR REACH AND IMPACT. OUR GOAL WITH THIS GLOBAL SOCIAL MEDIA WORK IS TO ACHIEVE "MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT" WITH ONLINE AUDIENCES; OUR HOPE IS THAT THOSE WHO ENCOUNTER OUR RESOURCES WILL SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE ON AND ALSO FUNCTION AS A RESOURCE WITHIN THEIR OWN COMMUNITY. THIS YEAR, WE RELEASED NEW COVID-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE INCLUDING: USING VIDEO TO DOCUMENT EXCESSIVE FORCE DURING COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS ON MOVEMENT, RECORDING A SELF-STYLE VIDEO FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, RECORDING REMOTE VIDEO OR AUDIO FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, AND HOW TO SLOW THE SPREAD OF MISINFORMATION AS INACCURATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CRISIS CAUSED FURTHER PANIC. WE ALSO EXPERIMENTED WITH GLOBAL RESOURCE CAMPAIGNS TO HIGHLIGHT THE CONNECTIVE TISSUE OF WITNESS' GLOBAL WORK THAT CUTS ACROSS REGIONS, INCLUDING AROUND VIDEO AS EVIDENCE RESOURCES AND THE RIGHT TO RECORD. OUR REGIONAL TEAMS SUCCESSFULLY UTILIZED NEW MEDIUMS TO DEPLOY OUR GUIDANCE AND APPROACH. FOR EXAMPLE, OUR AFRICA TEAM DEPLOYED A SERIES OF VIDEOS ADDRESSING HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES AND HELPING TO BUILD A SENSE OF SOLIDARITY AMONG PARTNERS, AND OUR ASIA TEAM EXPERIMENTED WITH THE USE OF TWITTER THREADS TO 'NUGGETIZE' BITS OF GUIDANCE.

MEDIA PRODUCTION AND ARCHIVESTHE MISSION OF THE WITNESS MEDIA ARCHIVE IS TO COLLECT, DOCUMENT, PRESERVE AND PROVIDE ACCESS TO AUDIOVISUAL HUMAN RIGHTS MEDIA FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADVOCACY, PROSECUTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS AND THE PRESERVATION OF THE HISTORICAL RECORD. WITNESS' VIDEO ARCHIVE INCLUDES OVER 1,300 HOURS OF DIGITAL VIDEO AND OVER 5,000 UNIQUE VIDEO TITLES FROM OVER 90 COUNTRIES. IN FY20, WITNESS MOVED ITS HISTORICAL ARCHIVE OF RARE HUMAN RIGHTS VIDEO FOOTAGE TO THE MALMO CITY ARCHIVES. (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)ARCHIVING IS A CRITICAL GAP IN THE RECORD OF THE HORRIFYING AND WIDESPREAD HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BEING COMMITTED AND REMAINS A CRUCIAL STEP TO COUNTER VARIOUS ACTORS' ATTEMPTS TO DISPUTE THE CLAIMS OF LEGITIMACY OF THESE VIOLATIONS AND PRESERVE MATERIAL OF POTENTIAL EVIDENTIARY VALUE. IN ORDER FOR FOOTAGE TO BE USED AS EVIDENCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES YEARS DOWN LINE, IT NEEDS TO BE PROPERLY DOCUMENTED, MANAGED, AND PRESERVED. RECOGNIZING THIS GAP, WITNESS WORKS TO ENSURE THAT WHEN ACTIVISTS RISK THEIR LIVES TO DOCUMENT HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, THEIR VIDEOS ARE PRESERVED SO ATROCITIES CANNOT BE FORGOTTEN OR DENIED OVER TIME. WE CREATED THE ACTIVISTS' GUIDE TO ARCHIVING VIDEO, WHICH PROVIDES PRACTICAL STEPS FOR MANAGING, STORING, SHARING, AND PRESERVING VIDEOS. THIS NOT ONLY EXPLAINS HOW TO MANAGE AND STORE FOOTAGE SO IT REMAINS INTACT AND UNDAMAGED, BUT HOW TO CREATE AND PRESERVE THE METADATA SO VIDEOS CAN BE FOUND AND AUTHENTICATED EVEN IN A COURT OF LAW. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH AFFECTED COMMUNITIES, WE HAVE ALSO SEEDED ITERATIONS OF LOCAL ARCHIVES TO SYSTEMATICALLY COLLECT VISUAL MEDIA EVIDENCE OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, WITH THE GOAL OF ENSURING THAT MEDIA CAN RETAIN ITS VALUE - EITHER FOR ADVOCACY, REPORTING, OR INVESTIGATORY PURPOSES. THESE PROJECTS BUILD ON WITNESS' 28 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS THE GLOBAL LEADER IN THE ARCHIVING AND PRESERVATION SENSITIVE HUMAN RIGHTS FOOTAGE.

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