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We are an international Social Purpose Organisation guided by a vision of a world where people—especially the hard-to-reach and unaddressed—have equal opportunities to live with dignity and hope.

A Social Purpose Organisation (SPO) is an organisation that addresses social issues and always prioritises the interests of the communities it serves.

Friendship’s vision is almost unchanged for over 20 years and is more relevant than ever in a world facing increasing global challenges such as exclusion from vital services, environmental crisis, extreme poverty, inequality and injustice.

From Bangladesh, a country facing the most pressing of humanity’s challenges, we develop scalable solutions to strengthen marginalised communities, and empower people to transform their lives and reach their full potential.

Friendship began its operations in 2002 pioneering a hospital ship for the most unaddressed and deprived communities in the world living on sandbar islands, called chars, of the mighty Jamuna River (Brahmaputra) in Bangladesh.

It soon became clear that to make a lasting impact on people’s lives we had to resolve other issues. Due to their geographical remoteness and exposure to environmental volatility resulting from the climate change, the people of the northern river areas and southern coastal belt of Bangladesh have little or no access to healthcare, education and other public services and lack opportunities to escape a life of extreme poverty. Friendship has chosen to focus its operations primarily on these remote rural areas and to adopt a holistic approach.