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 - Sexual Health Information and Services for Youth

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This evaluation examined the impact of a comprehensive sexual health programme for unmarried youth (ages 15-24) living in urban areas in China. The intervention included:

  • community-based sexual health counselling and contraceptive services at a youth health counselling centre
  • sex education through youth-focused pamphlets and lectures
  • group activities, including interactive discussion, on sexual health issues
  • contraceptives and condoms made available free of charge to young people
  • sexual health videos, shown at local cinemas prior to popular movies
  • training for family planning providers in provision of youth-friendly services
  • meetings of community leaders and parents
Methodologies
In April 2000, two towns in Songjiang district, Shanghai, China, were selected for the intervention study. Non-random sampling was used to select the intervention and comparison sites, and all unmarried youth ages 15 through 24 were eligible to participate in the study, irrespective of school status, so long as they had no intention at baseline to marry or to leave the town within one year. No eligible subject refused to participate.

A total of 1,220 unmarried youth in the intervention site and 1,007 in the comparison site were interviewed at baseline, including 1,304 out-of-school youth and 923 high school students. At follow-up (20 months later), 91.7% of eligible youth completed a second survey, including 94% from the intervention site (n=1,148) and 89% from the comparison site (n=894). Both baseline and follow-up surveys were self-administered under conditions that helped ensure anonymity and privacy to youth.
Practices
Increased use of contraception - Proportions of youth reporting ever use and/or consistent use of contraception rose significantly among sexually experienced youth in the intervention site between baseline and follow-up.
  • At the intervention site, reports of ever use of contraception rose significantly among all youth (from 65 to 99%), among males (68 to 99%), and among females (60 to 99%). Among sexually experienced youth at the comparison site ever contraceptive use rose, but less so (75 to 83%). The rise in ever use of contraception was statistically significant for females and for all youth at the intervention site.
  • The proportions reporting regular use of contraception rose significantly among sexually experienced youth from the intervention site between baseline and follow-up overall (34 to 89%) as well as among males (33 to 88%) and females (36 to 90%). At the same time among sexually experienced youth at the comparison site regular contraceptive use remained unchanged (44 to 45%).

Increased use of condoms - The proportions of sexually experienced youth at the intervention site reporting ever use of condoms rose significantly between baseline and follow-up, overall (74 to 97%) as well as among males (76 to 98%), and females (71 to 97%). In the comparison site, condom use among sexually experienced youth also rose, but not significantly (71 to 81%), primarily due to increased use among females (68 to 85%) a rise that was not statistically significant.
Increased Discussion of Development Issues
Between baseline and follow-up, the proportion of youth who reported making joint decisions (communicating) with a partner about contraception rose significantly among sexually experienced males in the intervention site (50 to 77%). In contrast, joint decision making dropped somewhat among males in the comparison site (67 to 63%).

However, reports of joint decision making dropped slightly among females in the intervention site (from 86 to 83%) and rose somewhat among females in the comparison site (65 to 77%).
Access
At follow-up (20 months after baseline), nearly 100% of youth in the intervention site reported receiving the educational materials and about 76% said they had read most or all of the materials. About 79% reported seeing at least one video and 50% reported seeing two or more videos. Nearly 33% reported participating in one or more discussion groups.

Counselors provided 328 counseling sessions to youth. Providers reported distributing the following free products to young people: 4,348 condoms, 137 packages of oral contraceptive pills, 146 packages of films, 107 tubes of cream, 870 suppositories, 106 packages of emergency contraceptive pills, and 93 pregnancy test kits.
Other Impacts
Evaluators note that findings on use of contraception and condoms strongly support the idea that a youth-friendly intervention can enhance safer sex behaviours.