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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Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW)

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Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW) is a Kenyan women’s human rights organisation committed to the eradication of all forms of gender based violence (GBV) against women and girls within the domestic, public, private and political spheres, and the promotion of women’s rights. Its strategy is to move the issue of violence against women from the private sphere to the public domain by ‘Breaking the Silence’.
Communication Strategies
The organisation provides services to victims and survivors of GBV. It undertakes activities that aim to prevent the occurrence of GBV. COVAW ‘s prevention activities involve working with the media to break the silence on GBV, programmes with in-school youth in order to influence their belief and value systems about male/female relations, challenging the socialisation process and demystification of myths on GBV.

COVAW works to prevent GBV through the following programmes:
  • Outreach and Training. COVAW works to stimulate public dialogue through extensive media campaigns, publications and community-based activities. The programme goal is to promote awareness on women’s human rights and to ensure that debate on women’s human rights is conducted.

    Specific activities under this programme are: sensitisation and training workshops for women, men, youth, community facilitators, law enforcement agents, volunteers and health care providers; production of user friendly materials on violence against women; drama performances on GBV and essay and poster competitions for youth in learning institutions.
  • Advocacy and Lobbying.The programme goal is to enable a more responsive social, political, legal and economic support mechanism for women at community and national level. Specific activities under this programme are: marking several campaigns that are relevant to women’s rights; conducting research and surveys on violence against women; carrying out media campaigns on various selected cases of gender based violence; rapid response and rescue of women and girls in cases of violence against them; and networking with other groups in highlighting women’s human rights issues nationally and internationally.
  • Public Interest Litigation. The programme goal is to enhance the legal status of women in Kenya through the promotion and protection of women’s rights. Specific activities under this programme are: advising women on their legal rights; following up cases involving violence against women with the police to ensure the due process of the law takes course; filing matters involving women’s rights violations in court where law is not clear; attending court to watch briefs and litigating on public interest matters; research on relevant laws; conducting mobile legal aid clinics and conducting sensitisation and awareness on women’s legal and human rights.
  • Publications. The programme goal is to design user-friendly publications that provide a solid basis for advocacy and awareness raising work.
Development Issues
Gender, Women, Children.
Key Points
COVAW objectives are to:
  • promote women’s rights through facilitating the collective work of individuals and organisations that want to eradicate GBV.
  • undertake campaigns aimed at raising public awareness on issues of GBV.
  • provide psychological support to survivors of VAW and referrals to appropriate agencies.
  • offer legal aid and support to survivors of GBV.
  • advocate and lobby for gender sensitive legal and policy frameworks that facilitates the realisation of women’s rights.
  • create a process of change for perpetrators of GBV through addressing the psychosocial, political and cultural factors that support the practice.
Sources

GBV website on February 14 2005.