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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Literacy Programme - South Africa

1 comment
Based on specific requests from the ageing population in Durban (South Africa), the programme not only taught literacy, but how to deal with everyday tasks such as paying bills.
Communication Strategies
A needs assessment exercise run by a HelpAge International member organisation called MUSA communicated with elderly people & identified their feelings of inadequacy around their inablility to read & write.
Development Issues
Ageing, Population, Education, Rights
Key Points
The elderly members of Durban expressed their frustration with being taken advantage of due to their inability to read & write. "One person had signed an eviction order without knowing what it was" & others found themselves on the wrong bus or unable to use the telephone correctly. Illiteracy is a roadblock for many daily functions which the literate take for granted. Alongside the ability to read & write, Durban's elder persons expressed the need to learn techniques enabling them to perform everyday tasks. This request resulted in a 2 part programme. In addition, the elderly students requested that their tutors be older people, like themselves. The programme was successfully put into place and was "very popular & well attended, particularly by women". Programmes such as this cultivate the skills necessary to prevent the feeling of disempowerment noted by ageing & illiterate individuals.
Partners

HelpAge International & MUSA

Sources

HelpAge International Website: Practical projects with and for older people in the HelpAge International network.

Comments

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 11/30/1999 - 00:00 Permalink

please let me know if you are running theses courses currently, or if there will be more in the future? 201501296@nu.ac.za