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 - Stop AIDS Love Life Campaign

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Date

The first phase of this campaign occurred between February 2000 and June 2001, and emphasised HIV-protective behaviours. Two household surveys conducted in 1998 served as baseline assessments. A household survey conducted in July 2001 provided measures following the initial phase of the campaign.

Practices
Among sexually active men, condom use at last sex increased from 13% in 1998 to 24% in 2001. Among sexually active women, condom use at last sex increased from 4% to 12% during that period. Further, even after controlling for a number of socio-economic characteristics, those sexually active men and women exposed to the campaign were more likely than unexposed men and women to have used a condom at last sex. While only 10% of male non-viewers used a condom at last sex, 34% of men with high campaign exposure had behaviour had done so.

The number of condoms sold during the two years following the campaign (34.8 million) was almost double that sold during the two years prior to the campaign (18.8 million).

Although condom use increased, age at first sex and multiple partnerships were largely unchanged by the campaign among the population at large. Reported faithfulness, however, did increase among married men with high exposure to the campaign as compared to those with no exposure.
Access
Overall, 83% of males (aged 15-59) and 77% of females (aged 15-49) recalled hearing or seeing campaign slogans. Furthermore, 37% of men and 26% of women had high exposure to "Stop AIDS Love Life", recalling the campaign in seven to 11 communication channels. Community rallies entertained and educated more than 400,000 people in over 200 cities and towns. Twenty audio/visual vans conducted rural outreach by showing videos on AIDS in five languages, and conducting question-and-answer sessions in remote areas throughout Ghana. These vans reached approximately 4 million people, mostly living in poor and rural sections of the country.

"Stop AIDS Love Life" also provided support for materials development to interested government, civic, and community groups. The materials developed included 2 million leaflets, 200,000 Q&A booklets, 50,000 stickers; 30,000 posters, 25,000 t-shirts, and 25,000 caps.
Source
Letter sent from Kim Martin to The Communication Initiative on March 3 2003; and "Stop AIDS Love Life in Ghana 'Shatters the Silence'", Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs' Communication Impact, Number 15, February 2003.