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

Time to read
less than
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 24 years ago
Last updated 1 year ago
Read so far

Children, Clowning and Resilience - Chile

0 comments
Headquartered in Santiago de Chile, Chile, Circo del Mundo-Chile [World Circus] carries out the project Children, Clowning and Resilience. The main objective of this programme is to stimulate the social and emotional development of poor children in urban settings through the use of entertainment. One specific aim is to encourage children to reduce their use of violence in situations of conflict with their peers by using humour and by stimulating children's self-esteem, creativity, and autonomy. The project targets children in the cities of Iquique and Alto Hospicio who are between the ages of 3 and 12 years old and who attend 11 local schools and 5 local day care facilities.
Communication Strategies
The project includes clowning workshops in which circus-like techniques are used, such as interactive clowning, participation of parents and relatives in workshops and interactive clowning sessions, community festivals with presentations by participants in workshops, regional festivals of clowning, and community participation in each project activity.
Development Issues
Children, Health, Violence.
Key Points
An assessment conducted by the project in 2000 showed that 67% of children participating in the programme tended to use violence as a resource in dealing with their peers. Project coordinators claim that the project has also stimulated public debate about children's growth and development, particularly among professionals who work in this area. Evaluation of the programme is ongoing; it uses a panel design to analyse a sample of participants.
Sources

"Documenting and Sharing Learning in Health Communication for Development - A Literature Review." Prepared by Rafael Obreg