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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Health Education for Urban Children - Chile

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Started in 1991, the project based in Santiago focuses on the education of children and young people in poor urban areas and helping them prevent infection by STD'S, and HIV/AIDS. As dropout rates are high, this initiative could not be performed through the school; therefore, participation of the target group itself was recruited in the planning and execution of the project.
Communication Strategies

Large scale distribution of mass media materials was preceded by literature searches, focus groups, in-depth interviews, and workshops with young people to create educational materials based on games and role-playing. The local community got involved in the planning of the project with a secondary benefit of reaching the local community.
Development Issues

Youth, community action, HIV/AIDS, sexual behaviour
Key Points

This collaborative approach has since been found to be effective for 15 to 21 year olds, and is now being extended to 12 to 15 years old in an attempt to change attitudes. Local NGO's were used to help in the creation and completion of this project, providing a good example of how existing structures can be used in HIV/AIDS work.
Partners



European Union, local community groups

Sources

Rex Winsbury, Action: The EC's response to HIV/AIDS in developing countries, 2nd ed. (Brussels: edit, 1994) 23.