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.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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GlobalVote

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This internet-based tool for democratisation is designed to give voice to the world's internet users by recording their opinions and registering their votes on international issues such as nuclear disarmament, climate change, and the world's responsibility to take action in crisis situations. A core goal is to contribute to the debate on decision-making processes within major international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. By disseminating polling results to these organisations, to universities, to the media, and to national governments, GlobalVote hopes to mobilise the international community, advocate for equal representation, and effect positive change.
Communication Strategies

GlobalVote draws on the internet to educate its online voting community, especially those users who otherwise might not have access to information regarding global politics and global decision-making. Details about each posted resolution (e.g., one under consideration by the United Nations, or UN) are part of this effort to create a community of informed, active voters. The global link provided by the internet allows for discussions about the issues at hand to take place at an international level with central moderation. As of this writing, GlobalVote is on its seventeenth international vote, and the topic is: Should Sudan’s president be arrested on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur? Members vote to either approve or reject the resolution, and may also post comments and/or participate in an interactive forum.

A key strategy is to promote transparent voting on every level. This reflects a commitment to disseminating the type of global opinion data that, according to GlobalVote, is not offered by the international decision makers that "conduct opaque voting processes, often behind closed doors". GlobalVote consists of a combination of delegated representation and a general (popular) vote. There are 192 national virtual parliaments — one for each of the 192 member states of the UN — with 100 representatives. The first 3 parliament seats for each country are designated as board member seats and will be representatives from universities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), think-tanks, and the media. The remaining 97 parliament members will be chosen on a representational basis according to age, gender, marital status, education, and religion, and will be expected to have an understanding of global issues. Participants beyond the first 100 in each country will represent their parliaments in the global popular vote, which consists of the opinions of all GlobalVote members.

Global, national, and individual results gathered through GlobalVote are made available online, and are presented in the form of graphs, tables, and trend lines. Available information includes a voter's age, gender, occupation, education level, religion, and political views (among others). GlobalVote also offers voting scenarios that are unique to polling organisations. (See the GlobalVote website for further details.)

Development Issues

Democracy & Governance.

Sources

Email from Karen Fan to The Communication Initiative on June 5 2008; and GlobalVote website.

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