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.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Impact Data - Su Gran Error / Dos Familias - Colombia

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Su Gran Error ('His Big Mistake') and Dos Familias ('Two Families') were two comic books used by PROFAMILIA, a large private family planning organisation in Colombia, to promote awareness of the benefits of family planning and of services available.

Methodologies
  • Phase I: a benchmark study in which 1,000 were interviewed, then given the two comic books
  • Phase II: 750 women were re-contracted and interviewed approximately 2 weeks later
  • Phase III: 76 of these women were contacted again and interviewed ten months later
Knowledge Shifts
The majority of women who received the booklets understood the messages that were presented, and little difference in comprehension was noted between literates and semi-literates.
Practices
23% of the women surveyed in Phase II reported visiting a family planning center after receiving the booklets. Some of the women related their behaviour directly to the comics, while others were not able to verbalise reasons for their new behaviour.
Attitudes
The comic books brought an overall improvement in attitudes toward family planning.
Increased Discussion of Development Issues
The booklets were very effective in generating communication about family planning between husband and wife. One of the attractions of the comic books reported was that they enabled women to read, reflect, and discuss the new ideas without "pressure" from fieldworkers (And, in areas outside the test areas where the booklets were also distributed, the extension personnel indicated that their efficiency was increased because they did not have to spend as much time on preliminary discussions).
Access
The booklets, distributed exclusively to women, were read by a majority of husbands, and were lent to and shared with by neighbours.
Source
"The Use of Mainstream Media to Encourage Social Responsibility: The International Experience" - The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation - Prepared by: Jennifer Daves and Liza Nickerson - The Media Project.