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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Black Dawn: The Next Pandemic

2 comments
This docudrama film was produced and broadcast (January 11 2006) by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It is distributed in the United States by Fanlight Productions (in other countries, contact the CBC.) The programme intends to illustrate the impact of an avian flu pandemic on a modern industrial/urban society. It uses the scenario of the possibility of human-to-human transmission of the virus, leading to the worldwide spread of avian influenza. Its producers have attempted to create a fictional scenario grounded in scientific fact and including recent research and thought on pandemic preparedness efforts of epidemiologists, doctors, and emergency planners, who describe the impact avian flu would have as it spreads around the globe. The drama's time line and other script elements are based on the research, predictions, and assumptions used by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Public Health Agency of Canada, the United States (US) Department of Health and Human Services and the United Kingdom's (UK's) Health Protection Agency to prepare pandemic plans.

The 52-minute film is supported by freely available online study materials and a fictional personal chronicle presented as a blog, The Next Pandemic Blog, of a nurse working in a Toronto hospital when the crisis strikes. The online materials are hosted at the CBC news "Fifth Estate" website and include:

Publishers

Publication Date
Source

Email from Ben Achtenberg to The Communication Initiative on February 1 2008.

Teaser Image
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/nextpandemic/gfx/1918menmasks.jpg

Comments

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/19/2008 - 22:53 Permalink

Though I have not seen the drama, the docdrama is a good lesson to individuals, decision makers not to ignor the curent situation of the hidden pandemic. It is of great importance to be distributed arround the world to give due attention to the preventive works. I hope you could give us a copy for free for the benefit of the world.

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 11:49 Permalink

Please note that Fanlight Productions is the distributor of this film ONLY for the United States. People in other areas should contact the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, at the website listed in the text, for information about obtaining copies or further information.