The British Council organises roundtable event to discuss safeguarding within the Bangladesh context

Syed Mizan, Bojrokontho::

The British Council has organised a roundtable event to foster dialogue with professionals and decision-makers from the development sector, with the aim of strengthening the focus on and prioritising enhanced safeguarding practices within development programmes. The event was held in collaboration with the Funder Safeguarding Collaborative (FSC) – a global network of grant-making organisations working together to ensure people’s safety.
To mark this significant initiative, Stephen Forbes, Country Director Bangladesh, British Council, said: “As safeguarding challenges and risks in our work continue, we need to expand our understanding, expertise and networking to build contextual knowledge on what works. With this aim, the British Council is collaborating with Funder Safeguarding Collaborative (FSC), to bring together diverse stakeholders who are on their safeguarding journey. I hope that this event marks the deepening of ongoing discussions and collaboration, and we look forward to continuing the conversation in the future.”
The roundtable brought together 25 participants, including representatives from NGOs, INGOs, multilateral agencies, the private sector, donor organisations, and representatives from the organising bodies. Through interactive discussions, speakers and participants shared insights and experiences on integrating safeguarding into programme design and grant-making. They discussed good practices, common challenges, and explored strategies to prioritise safeguarding in Bangladesh from the perspectives of funders and philanthropic organisations.
As part of the discussions, participants collectively pledged to influence the development programming ecosystem to enable more impactful safeguarding-focused funding. They also committed to fostering an environment that promotes continuous learning, collaboration, and opportunities for co-creation in the safeguarding space.
Anuradha Mukherjee, Senior Regional Advisor, South Asia, Funder Safeguarding Collaborative, remarked: “Funder Safeguarding Collaborative (FSC) is committed to a world where safety and well- being are at the heart of every organisation. It works with funders to drive action that creates safer organisational cultures and practices. FSC is very happy to collaborate with the British Council in Bangladesh to facilitate a space for peer learning on how safeguarding is understood and practiced within the development sector in Bangladesh and explore opportunities for future action.”

The British Council is committed to creating a safe environment in which no child or adult at risk—regardless of age, disability status, economic background, ethnicity, gender, religion or belief, or sexual orientation—experiences harm or exploitation during their contact with us. Grounded in human rights principles, our safeguarding commitments and practices aim to ensure that children and adults at risk feel safe and empowered to fully benefit from the opportunities created through our cultural relations work.
We draw upon international safeguarding standards, protocols, and best practice models, and actively share our approach with both national and international partners to encourage wider collaboration. This roundtable is one of many collective actions the British Council intends to take in the coming days to further strengthen safeguarding across the sector. For more details on safeguarding, please visit HYPERLINK “https://www.britishcouncil.org.bd/en/safeguarding” \hhttps://www.britishcouncil.org.bd/en/safeguarding