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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Interactive Radio Drama Online Training from Theatre for a Change - Online

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Event/Training Summary

Learn how to produce Interactive Radio Drama for the prevention and response to Covid-19, and sexual and gender-based violence.

Interactive Radio Drama is a unique Social and Behaviour Change Communication tool from Theatre for a Change. It has been used in multiple countries since 2010 to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of marginalised and vulnerable women and girls, with documented results.

Interactive Radio Drama is a unique approach that allows audiences to call in and replace the main character in the story, to show what they could do differently to change the story for the better. It enables behaviour change and advocacy to happen on a large scale. In Malawi, we reach over 550,000 listeners through interactive broadcasts each week.

Theatre for a Change is currently working with the Malawi Government as part of their national response to Covid-19, using Interactive Radio Drama to disseminate key Covid-19 messages in participatory ways.

We are now offering online training in this approach to other organisations who are interested in using it as part of their comprehensive response to Covid-19.

Course structure

  • Condensed version – three half days of live interactive online sessions, plus groupwork between the sessions.
  • Full version – six half days of live interactive online sessions, plus groupwork between the sessions.

Who is it for?

Anyone with a role to play in responding to Covid-19 from NGO programmes. Please note that a minimum of three people are required for the condensed version, and five people are required for the full version. No previous radio or performing experience is necessary.

This training is context specific, so if you are an international organisation with multiple country offices that are interested in receiving the training, then we are able to organise separate trainings for each office that is interested.

What you will learn

By the end of the condensed version of the course, you will be able to:

  • Develop critical moments for role plays based on specific Covid-19, sexual and gender-based violence-related attitudes and behaviours you want to develop in your audience.
  • Devise and perform short role plays live on radio.
  • Facilitate radio touch tag, which lets audiences call into the radio programme and replace key characters in the story, to show what they could do differently to change their behaviour live on-air.

By the end of the full version of the course, you will be able to do everything from the condensed version, plus:

  • Develop narrative arcs for interactive radio serial dramas lasting multiple episodes over a period of time.
  • Record scenes on location using portable recording equipment.
  • Edit scenes and compile them into episodes ready for broadcast.
  • Develop 30-minute and 60-minute magazine-style broadcasting programmes and scripts featuring Interactive Radio Drama and other interactive radio segments.

Programme

Both versions of the course – condensed and full – will be delivered entirely online, through facilitated live sessions using Zoom. The exact days and times of the training will be co-agreed by Theatre for a Change and partners.

Language

We are currently offering the course in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for this training, we ask that you:

  • Be a registered non-profit organisation.
  • Have airtime already confirmed on radio, or be in the process of confirming this.
  • Have proper radio equipment sourced, or be able to source it before training begins. For the condensed version, you can use equipment at the radio station so you do not need your own. For the full version, we would recommend sourcing your own equipment, and we can provide a list of equipment we recommend using.
  • Have a radio team who can dedicate themselves to this training and to delivering the training on radio.
  • Agree to acknowledge Theatre for a Change as the owner and originator of Interactive Radio Drama in all communications.
Registration Information

For more information

Please contact Ryan Borcherding on ryan.borcherding@tfacafrica.com

Location

Online via Zoom