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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Regional Leadership Development Centre (RLDC) - Uganda

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The Regional Leadership Development Centre (RLDC) provides a place for networking and information for young African women who are in leadership positions in women's non-governmental organisations (NGOs), government institutions and corporate bodies.
Communication Strategies
The RLDC has three components:
  • RLDC Information Service:This service provides training and development opportunities and information about relevant techniques in training, information technology (IT), directories of trainers and resource persons. It publishes and disseminates discussion papers on leadership development.
  • Training Library:The RLDC hosts a leadership training library. The library holds a variety of internationally developed training materials including manuals, books, audiocassettes and videocassettes, on issues relevant to the work of the RLDC/African Women's Leadership Institute (AWLI) such as organisational development, personal development, leadership skills and advocacy.
  • Developing Leadership Courses and Training Materials:The RLDC develops training materials relevant to the experiences of African women leaders, thinkers, and activists in consultation with identified experts in each area.
Development Issues
Women, Gender
Key Points
The RLDC objectives are to:
  • develop and pilot leadership training models and specially designed courses for African women to use in their communities, and to feed into AWLI
  • be a permanent source of information for current literature and debates on leadership training and leadership development
  • enable leaders of women's NGOs to play a more informed and efficient part in monitoring and implementation of national, regional and international instruments
  • empower women living in fundamentally patriarchal communities to develop the confidence to play a leadership role and develop a style of leadership based on democratic principles, collaboration, and support for other women, accountability and good governance
  • develop a mentoring and role modelling system in order to benefit from the knowledge, skills and expertise of older women and to ensure that young African women become an integral part of the decision-making processes at all levels
  • research, analyse, document and acknowledge the experience and struggles of African women in an un-romanticised manner
  • act as a resource for international development agencies and academic institutions
Partners
Akina Mama wa Africa(AMwA)
Sources

Akina Mama wa Africa website on July 26 2004.