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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Should international development NGOs play a major role in media for development?

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John Davison, head of media at Christian Aid, one of the largest international development NGOs, asks in this Polis blog, Media and Development - Where's the Gap? whether major mainstream NGOs should be playing a major role in media for development - or whether taking on such a role risks accusations of neocolonialism. Davison is undertaking more detailed research around this question with Charlie Beckett as a visiting fellow at Polis, the media thinktank based at the London School of Economics. It's interesting stuff.

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 05:39 Permalink

Great blog asking highly pertinent questions offering some preliminary answers. I've been working in the field of media for development for over 6 years sitting here in Bush House London and have wondered more than once, why my path seldom crosses with NGOs based here in the UK. In countries where we operate we are more liklely to come into contact with local and international NGOs but here in the UK it doesn't seem to happen. Well not to me anyway. Are we at the BBC WST being stand-offish and isolationist as media folk or is there little or no interest in our work from the NGOs? I know some of my colleagues have tested the waters over the years with preliminary meetings but these have rarely developed into solid ongoing partnerships. Be good to see what conclusions John Davison comes to from his time with Polis

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 12/15/2009 - 06:36 Permalink

Thanks! Basically I share your point of view, though still there are some questions to be argued. Regards.