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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Global Partnerships in AIDS Vaccine Research - Vienna World AIDS Conference (July 18-23 2010)

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This session - held in Session Room 7 - aims to give the audience a review on how different actors and partnerships across the world are helping drive progress in AIDS vaccine research. The session aims to highlight partnership in doing research, in building research capacity, in shaping policy, in fostering community engagement, and in mobilising leadership. The session will aim to communicate to the audience that AIDS vaccine research is not just a matter of science; it will highlight opportunities to different parties around the world on how they can also engage in this effort.

Starting with an introduction and followed by a question-and-answer session, this event will feature: "Discovering New Antibodies against HIV: A Case Study of a Global Partnership" (O. Anzala, Kenya); "Building a Research Network in Africa (H. Rees, South Africa); "Recalibrating the Policy Agenda, Globally and Regionally" (H. Wong, United States); and "Community Engagement through Good Participatory Practice" (A. Kopalan, India).

What questions or observations would you like the presenters to consider in this session? What observations or ideas do you have related to advancing positive action on this theme? Please engage through this forum; click on "submit a group post" and share your thoughts with us!