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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Securing a Polio-Free World: Video Series

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This video series from the World Health Organization (WHO) explain the steps that are being taken to make sure that, once the wild poliovirus (WPV) has been eradicated from the remaining WPV-endemic countries (Afghanistan and Pakistan), it will never have the opportunity to return. It provides an overview of the global strategy that can serve as a frame for the fight against vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs), which - along with potential leads of the virus from laboratories or vaccine manufacturers - would be the only risks of the virus returning. The videos also address the looming (April 2016) "switch" strategy (from trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) to bivalent OPV, or bOPV), which needs to be understood to fully grasp the importance of clearing VDPV. (Editor's note: Click here for one explanation of the switch and its implications.)

Following the introductory video (3:05 in length - see below), the series includes:

  • The Polio Vaccines (4:23 in length) - explores how the OPV and the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) work and the different, complementary roles they have to play in delivering a polio-free world.
  • Stopping all Polioviruses (4:50 in length) - provides information about WPVs and vaccine-derived polioviruses, and what needs to be done to stop both strains for good.
  • Phasing Out Oral Polio Vaccines (5:01 in length) - examines the switch from tOPV to bOPV in April 2016 - "the biggest, globally-synchronised project in the history of vaccines" - and why gradually phasing out the OPV is essential to prevent the emergence of circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs) in the future.
  • Building Resilience for the Switch (4:11 in length) - discusses the safety nets being put in place to make sure that the phased withdrawal of the OPV will speed up our journey towards a polio-free world, such as the introduction of the IPV into routine immunisation (RI) programmes.
  • Containing Polioviruses Safely and Securely (4:00 in length) - looks at steps being taken to ensure that laboratories and vaccine manufacturing facilities handle and store polioviruses safely and securely.

Publishers

Publication Date
Languages

English, French.

Source

Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) website, March 4 2016.

PDFLink
Click here to watch the video series in French.