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

Time to read
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 20 years ago
Last updated 1 year ago
Read so far

Get with IT

0 comments
Launched by Ireland's Internet Advisory Board (IAB), Get with IT is an initiative designed to help parents know more about the internet and the digital age so that they can make sure their children are safe while surfing the web or using technologies such as mobile phones. A three-week awareness raising campaign was conducted and an information booklet produced.
Communication Strategies
This initiative was developed in response to requests from schools and parents for information about technologies and the internet. "In particular, parents who are not tech-literate wanted more information so that they could discuss these technologies with their children and set down rules for use of the internet or mobile phones for example," said Audrey Conlon, chairwoman of the IAB.

The Get With IT initiative included a 3-week radio campaign that consisted of a series of advertisements on national and local radio stations. The radio campaign featured two different advertisement with humorous family situations with children and parents handling new media tools and jargon. The campaign also used posters displayed at locations around the country, online advertising banners, and a magazine feature.

The IAB has also printed 10,000 copies of an information booklet, which explains, in non-technical terms, what such things as peer-to-peer networks, MP3 players and iPods are. It gives advice on how to recognise if a child is using new media technologies in a potentially dangerous way and what steps a parent can take to prevent or stop this. The guide aims to give parents an introduction to the "lingo" associated with new technologies and help parents "navigate the often confusing maze of new media technologies and tools which their children are using." The booklet is available at libraries and parents can also request a copy through the freephone number 1800 24 25 95, or download the guide online via the IAB's website.
Development Issues

Technology, Children, Youth.

Key Points
A study conducted in April by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) indicated that that many parents lack the skills to guide and support their children's internet use and because of this they could be placing them on the wrong side of a digital divide. Of the parents surveyed, 18 percent said they didn't know how to help their children use the internet safely. Many recognised their own responsibility, with 67 percent wanting better advice for parents, but 75 percent also wanted teaching guidance in schools.
Sources

Young People's Media Network, September 13 2005.