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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Healthy Schools Project - Suriname

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This project, focussed on sanitation and hygiene in schools, was conducted in 3 Districts of Surniame - Paramaribo, Wanica, and Commewijne.
Communication Strategies
Activities for the Healthy Schools Project included surveying 10 schools in the three districts on water and sanitation, renovations at two selected schools of the water supply facilities, washrooms and toilet facilities, and playground drainage, newspaper articles, and poster displays. At the start of the new school year, PAHO organized and conducted training workshops for all teachers on school sanitation and hygiene education.
Development Issues
Children, Youth, Health.
Key Points
The project was initiated upon the requests made from various schools asking for assistance in upgrading the sanitation facilities that resulted in poor hygiene amongst many of the students. Health education amongst staff of the schools also became an important component in maintaining the sanitation facilities and promoting healthy hygiene to the students.
The progress of the Healthy Schools Project has been highlighted at the annual World Water Day (WWD) and Inter American Water Day (IAWD, 1st Saturday in November). WWD and IAWD are celebrated by a wide cross section of the society, international organisations, the government, NGO's and the private sector and the handing over of the renovated schools occurred on IAWD 2000 and WWD 2001. Public awareness was increased in part because of the decentralized approach, and also because of the inter-sectoral mobilisation of the community, private sector and service groups.
Partners

This activity was carried out by the Pan American Health Organisation in collaboration with School Nurses of the Regional Medical Services, the Health Education Department of the Bureau of Public Health, Basic Life Skills of the Ministry of Education, Stichting Projeckten Protestants.

Sources

Letter from Brooke Hayes, NetCorps Intern, to The Communication Initiative December 21, 2001.

Comments

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 11/30/1999 - 00:00 Permalink

How many school are there in Suriname?