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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Impact Data - Healthcom

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Healthcom was a 14-year USAID-funded programme, implemented by the Academy for Educational Development (AED) with a focus on communication and marketing for child survival. Activities included communication work in support of child survival programmes of 35 programmes, research and evaluation, and a "global leadership role in health communication and marketing". Work was based on a 5 step methodology - Assess, Plan, Pretest, Deliver, Monitor - therefore all interventions were different. Strategies ranging from mass media to interpersonal communication were used in differing combinations. The research results come from 10 pre- and post-studies carried out by the Annenburg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania.

Other Impacts
Examples of Impact Data from Healthcom programmes
  • In 4 out of 6 cities where HEALTHCOM supported immunisation programmes relative coverage rates ranged from 25 to 85 percent.
  • In Lesotho, the communication programme helped to boost ORT use from 39% to 60% and any treatment of a diarrhea case from 58% to 75%.
  • HEALTHCOM's media campaign in Jordan contributed to an increase from 38% to 56% in mothers who initiated breast feeding within six hours after their child's birth.
  • In Central Java, Indonesia, vitamin A capsule consumption increased from 24% to 40% in districts with a health post following a one year communication effort.
Source
"HEALTHCOM - lessons from 14 years in Health Communication" by Mark Rasmusson, Holly Fluty and Robet Clay in Development Communication Report, 1992/2, lead article; which was available from The Clearinghouse on Development Communication 1815 North Fort Myer Drive, Suite 600, Arlington, Virginia, 22209, USA. Best contact now is AED, 1255 23rd Street, NW, Washington D.C. 20037 - ph 1-202-862-1900.