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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I, Too, Have a Voice - Hear My Voice

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Launched in December 2000, the campaign 'I, Too, Have a Voice - Hear My Voice' was designed to give young people in Turkey an opportunity to have their voices and opinions heard, and to convey these to the government of Turkey and the public.
Communication Strategies
The campaign encouraged children ages 6-11, and youth up to 18 years old, to write messages to the prime minister of Turkey and to tell him whatever they had on their minds. According to the organiser, Serdar M. Degirmencioglu, during the six-month campaign about 3,000 messages were received. The messages were sent from young people around the country via the campaign website, email, fax, and in writing by post.

The children's messages were presented to the prime minister and to the public on Children's Day, on April 23 2001. The youth messages were presented to the prime minister and to the public on May 19 2001, Youth and Sports Day.

According to the campaign organisers, the campaign received extraordinary media coverage and this proved to be an important advocacy tool. The messages were available on the campaign website the day the messages were presented publicly and also appeared in many different publication outlets.

Selected messages were published four years after the conclusion of the campaign in a book titled, "Hear My Voice." Using the messages, the book aims to express young people's unfiltered voices.
Development Issues
Children, Youth, Rights.
Sources

Young People's Media Network, August 3 2005; and email from Serdar M. Degirmencioglu to The Communication Initiative, May 26 2007.