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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Update on Status of Polio Eradication

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Presented at the Communication Technical Advisory Group (TAG) Meeting in Zimbabwe

Date
Summary

This PowerPoint presentation was part of a November 2006 meeting hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) African Regional Office (AFRO) in Zimbabwe. At this meeting, country-specific presentations were made by communication practitioners in 5 countries which have experienced ongoing cases of wild polio virus (WPV) from 2005 to 2006. The objectives of the meeting included the following:

  1. To critically review country communication strategies and activities for polio eradication, routine immunisation and integrated expanded programme of immunisation (EPI)-polio action including progress in implementing the
    Yaounde 2005 TAG country recommendations.
  2. To develop the technical recommendations for each country which, when implemented, would improve polio and routine communication performance.
  3. To develop and propose communication indicators that can be effective in measuring the impact of communication strategies for improved polio eradication and expanded routine immunisation.


This presentation gives an overview of WPV transmission, Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) and laboratory surveillance in twelve African countries, immunisation challenges and issues for the communication Technical Advisory Group (TAG).



Major findings presented here include:

  • Confirmed cases of WPV increased to 994 in October 2006 from 558 in October 2005. This includes the addition of 3 new infected countries in 2006 (Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Namibia, and Kenya).
  • Viruses detected in Namibia and DRC are related to the 2005 Angola outbreak, while WPV in Kenya is related to the 2006 Somalia cases.
  • As of October 2006, 72% of World Health Organization (WHO) African Regional Office (AFRO) countries are meeting the annualised operational non-polio AFP rate of 2/100,000 (under 15 yr age group). Of the larger countries, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia have not yet reached this goal.

Challenges identified:

  • How to achieve interruption WPV transmission within a short time.
  • How to ensure that countries assume responsibility to follow through.
  • Sustaining polio-free status in other countries.
  • Filling the financial gap.

In conclusion, issues for communication TAG were outlined at the community, national and donor/partner levels.

Click here to download the full PowerPoint presentation as a PDF file.