Development action with informed and engaged societies

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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Fostering Democratic Ownership

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Subtitle
Towards Greater Impact on Poverty

Author

SummaryText

From the Foreword:

 

"This report, “Fostering Democratic Ownership - Towards Greater Impact on Poverty”, has been commissioned by Alliance2015 as a contribution to preparatory discussions in advance of the third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to be held in Accra in September 2008. [Alliance2015 is a group of six European non-governmental organisations (NGOs) committed to working toward more effective aid and full achievement of the MDGs by 2015.] It focuses on the extent to which the Paris Declaration - the subject of that High Level Forum - promotes “democratic ownership” in specific country contexts. [The report builds on country studies in Mozambique, Ghana, Nicaragua, and Bolivia.] Its point of departure is the absolute necessity for such ownership, which enables participation of civil society and parliaments in defining, implementing and monitoring development policies and strategies at local and national levels. The importance of linking aid effectiveness to actual impact on intended beneficiaries is a second point of departure reflected in the title itself."




 

 

 

Table of Contents


Foreword


Executive Summary


1.1 Changes in Civil Society Participation
1.2 Changes in Government Funding Trends


2. Thematic Analysis of Country Studies
2.1 Democratic Ownership
2.2 Accountability and Transparency
2.3 Enabling Environment for Civil Society


3. Key Recommendations for Fostering Democratic Ownership
3.1 Recommendations for Multilateral and Bilateral Donors
3.2 Recommendations for Aid Recipient Governments
3.3 Recommendations for Local NGOs
3.4 Recommendations for International NGOs

Publishers

Publication Date
Number of Pages

32

Source

e-CIVICUS newsletter, Issue No. 385, April 24 2008.