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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Impact Data - Balbir Pasha HIV/AIDS Campaign

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Date
Practices
Sales of condoms in the red light district tripled after the launch of the campaign.
Attitudes
  • The proportion of the audience addressed by the campaign that has sex with commercial sex workers (CSWs) that feels at high-risk for HIV in unprotected sex with a non-commercial partner increased from 17% to 43%.
  • The percentage of those who believed that using condoms all the time reduces HIV/AIDS risk considerably increased from 80% to 86%.
  • The proportion of those who realised that using condoms half the time did not reduce risk at all increased from 43% to 53%.
  • Respondents showed an increase in risk perception regarding healthy looking and more expensive CSWs and an increase in claims of condom use with CSWs.
Access
Among 1,500 people surveyed:
  • One quarter recalled the Balbir Pasha campaign spontaneously, 62% recalled it after hearing "HIV/AIDS", and 90% remembered it after hearing "Balbir Pasha".
  • Calls to PSI's Saadhan HIV/AIDS hotline increased 250% and the types of queries changed from superficial to more substantive.
  • More than a quarter of the participants knew the name of the hotline and over 75% believed that calling it would provide accurate and complete information.

In an article in The Times of India, Varda Pendse, a working woman and mother, said of the campaign, "It made us sit up and take note of AIDS. It spoke to people in a language they understand. We cannot have a westernized campaign to spread awareness among the masses."
Source
USAID HIV/AIDS E-Newsletter--October 20, 2003; and "Balbir Pasha: HIV/AIDS Campaign is the Talk of Mumbai" [PDF].