Bengal Creative Media

Bengal Creative Media (BCM) is a Bangladeshi consultancy that positions itself as a socially-focused enterprise working on peace-building, advocacy and development communications. According to its own materials, BCM has advanced peace since the late 1990s, functioning as a mission-driven creative practice that helps underserved communities and the organizations that serve them. Rather than a conventional advertising agency, BCM describes itself as an architect of messaging for social change, combining strategic planning, concept development, art and design direction. The consultancy's stated thematic focus spans global awareness, human rights, mental health, poverty, exploitation and abuse, prejudice, social development, trafficking, gender issues, educational access, cultural preservation and food security. This places BCM in the humanitarian and development communications space, where it works with NGOs, UN agencies and civil-society organizations to craft campaigns, advocacy materials and information products. A flagship example of BCM's work is the Rohingya Dictionary project. Beginning around 2020 in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), BCM helped create the first dictionary and dictionary app in the Rohingya language, intended as a Rohingya-to-English/Burmese tool for refugees in the Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh. The project required building a writing tool chain from scratch because Rohingya has no fixed orthography and uses three different scripts, including a unique one. BCM worked on collecting, translating and vetting Rohingya words, created a lexicon database, used specialized software following international standards, developed keyboard layouts and designed an original font for the dictionary. BCM presents itself as a partner for organizations seeking to ignite change and advocate for those in need, offering services that range from strategic planning and concept development to art and design direction. Its client-facing messaging invites organizations to consider how they are advancing peace and to engage BCM for their next project. The firm operates from Bangladesh and serves international humanitarian and development clients, with its Rohingya language work giving it a distinctive niche in cross-cultural and multilingual communications.

Bengal Creative Media (BCM) is a Bangladeshi consultancy that describes itself as having advanced peace since the late 1990s. Its self-presentation frames it not as a conventional commercial agency but as a socially-focused enterprise committed to helping the underserved and empowering organizations to ignite change and advocate for those in need. Over time, BCM has built a practice around strategic planning, concept development and art and design direction for causes including global awareness, human rights, mental health, poverty, exploitation and abuse, prejudice, social development, trafficking, gender issues, educational access, cultural preservation and food security. A defining chapter in BCM's history is its work on the Rohingya language. Around 2020, together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the idea grew to create a Rohingya-to-English/Burmese dictionary. The objective was to give Rohingya refugees located in the Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh a helpful tool to better express themselves to the international community. Creating a dictionary in Rohingya posed a significant challenge: no fixed orthography exists, and three different scripts are used, including a completely unique one. This necessitated setting up a writing tool chain from scratch. Together with IOM, BCM worked on collecting, translating and vetting Rohingya words and created a lexicon database. Specialized software was used following international standards, and keyboard layouts were created for typing. An original font was also designed for the dictionary. The result of years of mining Rohingya language building blocks and dozens of stages of refinement can now be utilized through a dictionary and dictionary app. BCM's history is therefore one of a small, mission-driven consultancy that has carved out a niche at the intersection of creative communications and humanitarian response, with its Rohingya Dictionary project standing as its most visible and technically ambitious undertaking.

• BCM states it has advanced peace since the late 1990s.

• Around 2020, BCM and IOM began developing a Rohingya-to-English/Burmese dictionary.

• BCM helped create the first dictionary and dictionary app in the Rohingya language.

A socially-focused creative consultancy and architect of messaging for peace-building, human rights and development causes.

• Rohingya Dictionary and dictionary app

  The first dictionary and dictionary app in the Rohingya language, created with IOM to help Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar express themselves to the international community. It involved a lexicon database, specialized software, keyboard layouts and an original font.

1. 1Bengal Creative Media official websitebengalcreativemedia.com
2. 2Bengal Creative Media on Wikidatawikidata.org