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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Straight Talk: The Voice of Adolescents and Youth - Occasional Paper No. 1

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Summary

Straight Talk is an adolescent newspaper that focuses upon sexuality and reproductive health. The newspaper is run by an adolescent editorial board that consists of 8 part-time adolescents (4 males, 4 females) who rotate on a 3-month basis. The adolescent editorial board controls and directs the content and production of the newspaper. Straight Talk is targeted at young people aged between 14 and 25 in an attempt to keep them safe from sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, through communication for better health. The newspaper is published in local languages to reach as wide an audience as possible.

From the introduction

"This occasional paper shares Straight Talk's experience of involving adolescents in an active and participatory programme. This involvement gives adolescents authority and power to make decisions. We find that if adolescents are directly involved in this way they respond with commitment, enthusiasm and determination. The background to the Straight Talk programme is described together with details of the process involved and an analysis of the collaboration."

This paper is no longer available online. Please contact the Straight Talk Foundation for more information.

Source

Straight Talk Foundation, March 25 2004.