Development action with informed and engaged societies

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 - Indonesian National HIV/AIDS Media Campaign

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Date
Knowledge Shifts
Positive increments in AIDS awareness with each subsequent campaign were evident. After Phase 1, 94% of respondents were aware of AIDS; after Phase 2, 97% of respondents were aware of AIDS; and after the Second Wave of Phase 2, 99% of respondents were aware of AIDS. Sources of information on AIDS from media activities were consistently high, with television ads ranking highest (90% of respondents heard about AIDS from television). Community-based sources of information on AIDS ranked between 5 and 10%.

There was also an increased understanding of the role of needle sharing in the transmission of HIV/AIDS with each subsequent campaign. After Phase 1, 31% of respondents indicated an awareness of that mode of transmission, while 46% responded in that way after Phase 2 and 62% responded in that way after the Second Wave of Phase 2.

Notably, there was a corresponding decline in knowledge about AIDS transmission through unprotected sex. After Phase 1, 57% of respondents reported having that knowledge as compared with 58% in Phase 2 and 49% in the Second Wave of Phase 2. This decline in knowledge may have resulted from an increased focus on IDU in more recent campaign strategies.
Practices
Target group respondents indicated intending to change their behaviour as a result of seeing campaign ads. One percent of respondents intended to do nothing after seeing the latest campaign, while 29% intended to do nothing after being exposed to the Phase 2 campaign. Behavioural intentions also focused on sex practices such as wearing condoms and modifying drug use. Twenty-three percent of respondents exposed to the Phase 2 campaign indicated having those intentions, as compared to 44% after the Second Wave of Phase 2. There was a concomitant shift in respondent intentions to seek further information and to talk to friends. Intentions to change other needle sharing practices such as tattooing or initiation also changed significantly (from 0% in Phase 2 to 13% after the Second Wave of Phase 2).
Attitudes
A high level of respondents indicated acceptance of the government's involvement in AIDS campaigns: 99% rated the government's initiative in running the campaign as important, or very important.

There is evidence of an increasing influence of campaign ads on people's attitudes about HIV/AIDS, with respondents being somewhat or strongly influenced by exposure to the advertising. Eighty-one percent of respondents after Phase 1 were so affected; 77% of those exposed to Phase 2 were so affected; and 89% of those exposed to the Second Wave of Phase 2 were somewhat or strongly influenced.
Source
Email from Tahir Turk to The Communication Initiative on November 6 2001.