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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Telecenters for Socioeconomic and Rural Development in Latin America & the Caribbean

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This report is part of a combined effort by the Social Programs Division of the Regional Operations Department 2 and the Rural Unit and the Information and Communications Technology Division of the IADB's Sustainable Development Department, to establish or strengthen access to and dissemination of technology for economic and social development. The Bank and the international community in general have become interested in telecenters as away to build sensible development strategies, consistent with the situation of poor countries and marginal areas. This strategy holds that there is no point in investing heavily in extending access to those areas, given their limited production capacity and purchasing power, but recognises thepotential impact that increased access could have on their development. "Universal service" to every home is too ambitious a goal in poor countries and low-income areas, but it is possible to have a significant impact through “universal access” by means of shared facilities in a relatively short period of time.A telecenter may be defined as a “shared site that provides public access to information and communications technologies.”

This report focuses on those sites whose main purpose is to increase public access to the internet and to services available over the internet. This study examines some of the main telecenter experiments in Latin America, with particular reference to Central America and the Caribbean, to help guide IADB actions. In the region, Peru has the most persons who use the internet from public access points; that country's experience with cabinas públicas is therefore examined at length. As part of the study, visits were conducted to Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. Additional information on experiences in other countries was obtained from secondary sources and through direct communication(via internet, email, and telephone) with telecenter administrators, specialists, and promoters.

Click here for report Online

A Spanish version of the report is also available from the same site.