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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Impact Data - Among Youth

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Date
Knowledge Shifts
Knowledge about HIV/AIDS prevention methods improved during the intervention, but increases were observed in both the intervention and control groups. 53% of those surveyed in the control site during 2000 knew condoms were a prevention method against the disease, compared to 70% in the intervention site. By 2002 75% in the control site and 79% in the intervention zone were familiar with the method. In both sites abstinence was cited second to condoms as the most effective method of prevention against HIV/AIDS. In 2000 it was cited by 19% of youth in both the control and intervention areas. In 2002 the proportion rose to 30% in the control site and 35% in the intervention site.

In 2000, very few youth were able to cite all 3 methods of prevention (i.e., abstinence, mutual fidelity, and condoms); by 2002, the numbers rose 11% (from 5%) in the control site and to 13% (from 4%) in the intervention site.
Practices
Abstinence increased in the intervention site and decreased in the control site. After the campaign, 62% of intervention site youth reported abstaining, compared to 50% before. In the control site, 56% reported abstaining after the project, down from 60% before. Fidelity also increased, with fewer youth reporting multiple sexual partners. Prior to the intervention, 37% of youth surveyed in Mokolo had more than one sexual partner per year. After the intervention, the percentage fell to 30%. Boys continued to have more sexual partners than girls (38% of boys reported more than one sexual partner per year, compared to 21% of girls).

Condom use during last intercourse with a regular partner increased in the intervention site from 42% to 62% among boys and from 31% to 42% among girls. Condom use with the last occasional partner remained the same among control group girls (about 61%), but increased significantly among girls exposed to the intervention from 44% to 79%. Similar changes occurred among youth with regular partners in the control group.
Increased Discussion of Development Issues
Communication improved between couples, and more youth were able to discuss condom use with their partners.
Access
In total, approximately 200,000 adolescents received reproductive health information directly through the campaign. After the intervention, 44% of youth surveyed had read at least one issue of the "Among Youth" magazine.
Source
Letters sent from Laura Raney to the Communication Initiative on September 25 and December 4 2003; and Operations Research summary on the FRONTIERS site; and Final Evaluation [PDF] ("Peer Education as a Strategy to Increase Contraceptive Prevalence and Reduce the Rate of STDs/AIDS among Adolescents in Cameroon").