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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Health and Development - Estonia

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Started in 1993, this partnership project had many goals for the promotion of health and development in Estonia. These included aiming to support establishment of the new Estonian Centre for Health Education, providing expert support for the design and implementation of health programmes, assisting in development of public campaigns and providing training packages for key people in the Estonian health sector.
Communication Strategies

Two sets of activities occurred, the first consisted of training projects in the UK, and the second consisted of projects in Estonia. In the UK, summer schools provided health promotion training, along with key persons training and study visits. In Estonia, a media training workshop, hospital visits, seminars, summer school, and management workshops were conducted.
Development Issues

Mother and child health, domestic violence, smoking, traffic accidents.
Key Points

A review conducted after the first year of activities found the following outcomes: The Estonian Centre for Health Education (ETK) was established and grew visibly, producing active programmes on a number of key health issues. The media was mobilised to promote healthy lifestyles, and the Public Health Department has established health promotion as part of the national health strategy. a network of health promotion co-ordinators meet monthly, a model local Health Promotion Centre is to be established.
Partners



Health Education Authority (International Unit), World Health Organisation (Europe), Estonian Centre for Health Education and Promotion, Finnish Centre for Health Education, Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia, European Union

Sources

Developing Health Promotion in Estonia, First Year Report 1993/94. Health Education Authority.