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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Global Polio Eradication: Headquarters, UNICEF & WHO Communication & Advocacy Support - 2004

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Summary

Claire Hajaj (chajaj@unicef.org) and Melissa Corkum (mcorkum@unicef.org) of UNICEF and Cynthia Veliko (velikoc@who.int) of WHO, Geneva

New Delhi, India

This was presented at the June 2004 UNICEF meeting dedicated to examining communication in the context of the final push to eradicate polio. The presentation provided an overview of how the four global partners in the polio eradication effort (the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and UNICEF) work together to form one global voice with the following primary goals: to sustain and increase political commitment, to boost resource mobilisation and to support country strategies.

This is achieved by development of global messages such as the slogan: "now, more than ever, stop polio forever"; by preparation of joint materials and publications (e.g., "Polio News"); and by involving global leaders (e.g., United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan). Specific activities from January to June 2004 are summarised (e.g., signing of the "Geneva Declaration on Polio Eradication"). Challenges are identified (including the lack of information and competing priorities) as are priorities for the period from July to December 2004.

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