The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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BBC World Service's 'I have a right to...' - Global

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'I have a right to...' is a BBC World Service global education project organised by the BBC World Service Trust. There will be awareness-raising debates and events in participating countries and radio programmes will be broadcast to a potential audience of 125 million people. The project is designed to assist people make informed choices about their lives and participate in discussion and debate in regional, national and international arenas.
Communication Strategies

'I have a right to...' consists of radio programmes in many languages, awareness raising debates and events in participating countries and a website. Radio series will be produced in English, Albanian, Serbian, Russian, Turkish, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish for the Americas, Arabic, Hausa, Swahili and English for Africa, as well as other local languages in the later phases of the project.

Phase I of the project included 50 hours of airtime explaining human rights in a total of 13 language services, a website in English and specialist training for a team of BBC reporters. Before the project ends in December 2002, the project will deliver another 26 hours of radio in anouther 12 languages.

Phase II included BBC teams returning to Kenya, Russia, India, Nigeria and Mexico for specific events designed for broadcast, working in colse partnership with NGOs, universities, and local journalists. The primary aim was to stimulate and contribute to national debates about human rights and to strengthen in-country partners to continue the discussion after the broadcast.
Development Issues

Rights
Key Points

'I have a right to...' aims to leave listeners with an increased understanding of human rights across the globe including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); an enhanced awareness of their own human rights as individual citizens; and an up to date picture of the involvement and position of their own country and region on human rights issues.
Partners



BBC World Service acknowledges financial support from the Human Rights Projects Fund of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office for 'I have a right to...'

Sources

'I have a right to...' web pages. and a print publication 'I have a right to...' The Debate.