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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Meningitis Vaccine Project - Africa

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A project targeted to eliminate meningitis epidemics in Sub-Saharan Africa with the proposed development of a serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine, based on a $70 million global health grant from the Gates Foundation.
Communication Strategies
The Meningitis Vaccine Project is looking at a 10 year life & will involve many partners. Apart from the actual development of the vaccine, both private & public sectors of the community will be focussing on Africa for licensing & vaccinating through mass & routine immunisation programmes together with other public health programmes such as measles control initiatives.
Development Issues
Health, Rights, Children, Youth
Key Points
Yasuhiro Suzuki, health technologies & pharmaceuticals expert at WHO, speaks of meningitis as "a disease that, during epidemics, fills hospitals, creates significant social disruption, strains limited resources & kills large numbers of people, mostly children, in a short period of time". Dr. Gordon Perkin, Director of the Health Programme at the Gates Foundation believes "this strategic & cooperative effort could mean the end of meningitis epidemics in Africa in our lifetime". The African meningitis belt stretches from Ethiopia in East Africa to The Gambia in the west. The largest recorded epidemic, with more than 200,000 cases & 20,000 deaths reported, occurred in 1996. This death toll is likely very low as during epidemics, many patients die before reaching a health centre & their reason for death goes unrecorded. It is hoped that this grant will become an incentive as a model for other vaccines or drugs tailor-made for the poorest countries as the private sector is often unmotivated to make the investment needed to develop such vaccines. The president of PATH remarks on how "traditionally, market competition drives vaccine creation". The goals of the Meningitis Vaccine Project over the next 10 years are:
  • Develop a meningococcal conjugate vaccine
  • Create a pathway for the licensure of the vaccine which will be used largely in Africa
  • Assure production in sufficient volume to meet projected needs
  • Monitor throughout to assure the effectiveness & safety of the intervention
  • Finance the procurement of the vaccine through existing or new global programmes
  • Introduce the vaccine through mass & routine immunisation programmes in synergy with other public health programmes such as measles control initiatives.
Source
AllAfrica.com Website
Gates Foundation Announces Grant to Eliminate Epidemic Meningitis
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
DOCUMENT May 31, 2001
Partners

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle-based Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) and the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, the establishment of a partnership with the private sector & many other groups such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the leading technical partner.