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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Respect Yourself: Egypt Still Has Real Men

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"Respect Yourself" is a campaign initiated by Egyptian journalist Ahmed Salah and the staff of a monthly online magazine, Kelmetna, encouraging Egyptian men to renounce sexual harassment. The campaign began in May 2008 and attempts to bring back the idea that men should treat women the way they would like their sisters to be treated - a sentiment that, according to the organisers, used to characterise Egyptian society. The founders of the campaign encourage youth volunteers to raise awareness of the issue by having face-to-face dialogues on the streets.
Communication Strategies

As part of the campaign, Kelmetna magazine hosts weekly seminars and discussions to raise awareness about the problem. It also offers self-defence classes for women so they can fight off harassers. In addition to seminars, the group members and volunteers, who are all aged between 14 and 24, take their work to the streets, talking to people about sexual harassment. One of their main goals when they approach people is to convince them to refrain from all types of sexual harassment as well as to speak out when they see it happening. The campaign also involves street concerts to raise awareness.

According to the organisers, in the process of expanding the campaign's activities, Salah created a Facebook group supporting the campaign. The group was created on July 18 2008; as of March 9 2010, the group has more than 53,000 members who either participate in discussions or take part in organised events. On Facebook, campaigners initiate discussions on issues such as the reasons behind the proliferation of sexual harassment, protective methods against harassment, and molestation at the workplace.

The campaign has also produced stickers which are being distributed around the city.

Development Issues

Gender, Rights

Key Points

According to the organisers, a recent study showed that 83% of Egyptian women were exposed to sexual and verbal harassment. 70% of those women were veiled, which indicates that the problem of harassment is not related to the wearing of revealing outfits.

A number of groups, organisations, and public figures have lent their support to the initiative, such as TV host Moataz Al Demerdash, radio host Osama Mounir, Al Azhar Park, Al Jazeera News Channel, and Dream TV's Al Ashera Masa'an show.

Sources

Pambazuka News 393: Links and Resources, August 15 2008; EgyptSearch.com on October 19 2008; Daily News Egypt website on October 19 2008 and March 9 2010; and Respect Yourself Facebook page, March 9 2010.

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