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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Soap Operas: Principles of Effectiveness

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  1. Conduct formative research to design the programme.
  2. Identify the central educational value and establish a moral framework.
  3. Evaluate the role of television (or radio) in society, the television production and broadcast facilities, and the availability and appropriateness of commercial advertisers.
  4. Evaluate the infrastructure that supports the educational issue to be sure it is adequate to meet expected demand.
  5. Assess the appropriateness of the entertainment-education format, in light of the demographic and socio-cultural characteristics of the audience
  6. Assess the physical characteristics of the intended audience to design life-like characters, sets and costumes.
  7. Collaborate with social scientists and formative researchers to inform the production team about the educational issue to be promoted.
  8. Facilitate cooperation between the creative and production personnel.
  9. Design character profiles and paths based on the moral/values framework, and write the scenes, episodes, scripts and epilogues accordingly.
  10. Shoot (or tape) the episode.
  11. Assess the effects of the entertainment education soap opera.
Source
Singhal & Rogers, 1999, Entertainment-Education: A Communication Strategy for Social Change, L. Erlbaum Assoc., as quoted in "Communication / Behaviour Change Tools: Programme Briefs - NO. 1 Entertainment Education, January 2002 [click here for the PDF version of this brief].