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
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 22 years ago
Last updated 1 year ago
Read so far

Digital Pulse - Ch 3 - Sec 2 - Health e-News

0 comments
Summary

The Digital Pulse: The Current and Future Applications of Information and Communication Technologies for Developmental Health Priorities


Chapter 3 - Programme Experiences: Sixty Case Studies Of ICT Usage In Developmental Health

Section 2 – Social Development, Education, Advocacy



Health e-News – South Africa




Development Issues: Health, Poverty


Programme Summary

Health-e is a news agency dedicated to producing news and analysis for the print and electronic media regarding health policy and practice in South Africa. The particular focus is to report on health issues affecting the poor and disadvantaged, and the implications of different health policies for our society as a whole. Content is tailored to the requirements of different weekly newspapers and/or radio stations.


The Health-e team comprises five journalists and an office administrator. The team are as follows: Sue Valentine (editor), Kerry Cullinan (print journalist), Anso Thom (print journalist), Khopotso Bodibe (radio journalist), Thandeka Teyise (radio journalist) and Nina Taaibosch (administrator).


Summary of ICT Initiatives

The website provides access to a wide range of text stories and audio clips on various health issues and related news items. The style of the articles is one of investigative journalism and covers areas that involve important social and political issues throughout South Africa. The issues of mine workers, their high HIV prevalence, and company policies regarding testing and precautionary measures are paired with stories involving personal strategies for the management of insomnia and arthritis. The combination of text and audio based formats makes the website accessible to a wide range of audiences, those who are prevented from access because of connectivity and those who prevented from access because of illiteracy both gain from the dual format.


The site contains both recent features and an archive of past stories and audio clips that are linked by subject area so that browsers can review all of the material that the service has created on a subject. They also offer subscriptions to an e-mail based health news bulletin and provide links to a number of other resources for readers and journalists.


Observations

Health-e news was the recipient of the Highway Africa 2001 Award for Innovative usage of new media in African journalism (NGO category).


Partners: The core Health-e staff work with other organisations to deliver this service: Health Systems Trust for web and technical development, and the Media & Training Centre work with community radio stations and project administration. This project is supported by a grant from the Kaiser Family Foundation, USA.


Source:Health-e website.


For More Information Contact:

Health-e news

PO Box 34572,

Groote Schuur, 7937,

Cape Town, South Africa

Tel: Cape Town (021) 448-2388 or fax (021) 448-3321.

editor@health-e.org.za