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

Time to read
less than
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 25 years ago
Last updated 1 year ago
Read so far

Impact Data - Promotion of Youth Responsibility Project

0 comments
Date
Methodologies
This survey used a set of baseline and follow-up surveys, each involving approximately 1,400 women and men aged 10-24. They were conducted in five campaign areas and two control areas. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess exposure to the campaign and its impact on young people's reproductive health knowledge and discussion, safer sexual behaviours, and use of services.
Knowledge Shifts
Youth knowledge of modern contraceptive methods (except the implant) increased significantly after the campaign (2 to 4 times more likely to know about these methods than before the campaign). In particular, knowledge about the female condom increased considerably due to a separate initiative which ran concurrently with this programme. General reproductive health knowledge remained at a low level after the campaign, mostly due to misconceptions about family planning methods.
Practices
After the campaign, young people were more likely to abstain from sex, which may have indicated positive intentions. Young women were more likely to report having said no to sex. The campaign encouraged groups that are historically less likely to seek services to visit health centres; members of these groups include males, single people, and those who lack sexual experience. Among respondents, 29% of women, 28% of men, 27% of sexually inexperienced youth, and 31% of sexually experienced youths visited a health centre. Of those, 27% of single and 41% of married people visited a health centre. Also, 67% of those who had sex within the past 6 months after the campaign reported using a modern contraceptive method, compared to 56% before the campaign. Girls who attended launch events were 36 times more likely (p<.001) to avoid "sugar daddies". The number of participants who stuck to one partner was also substantially higher (20.4%) than those who did not (2%).
Attitudes
About 4 of 5 of youth interviewed still believed that the male should decide whether to have sex, although it was felt that some young women may have come to believe they had the right and responsibility to refuse unwanted sex. The widespread campaign served to increase interest in the idea of family planning and the topic was brought into the light; however, changing deep-seated gender stereotypes is a process that will take time.
Increased Discussion of Development Issues
It was felt that the campaign was successful in generating discussion on a wide variety of topics, including sexual issues, HIV/AIDS, and physical growth and maturity. Eighty percent of youth in campaign areas said they had talked with someone about reproductive health issues. Those who attended launch events were also 2.7 times more likely to have had discussions with friends.
Access
Overall, 97% of respondents were exposed to the campaign. Posters and launch day events reached the largest proportion of young people (92% and 87%, respectively), followed by leaflets (70%) and dramas (46%). The hotline reached the smallest share of the audience being addressed (7%) due to limited telephone access in rural areas. Radio is widely available in Zimbabwe: 94% of urban and 87% of rural young people surveyed had access to a working radio. Nationwide, 41% of youth living in urban areas had heard the radio programmme and 5% reported calling the show to discuss problems. Students (aged 16 and under) were much more likely to have seen a poster, read a pamphlet, watched a youth drama, read Straight Talk, or talked to a peer educator. Sixty-one percent of respondents exposed to the campaign saw or heard at least 3 campaign components.
Source
"Promoting Sexual Responsibility Among Young People in Zimbabwe", by Young Mi Kim, Adrienne Kols, Ronika Nyakauru, Caroline Marangwanda, and Peter Chibatamoto, International Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 27, No. 1, March 2001.