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 - Together for a Happy Family Campaign

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Project researchers along with staff from the Jordanian Department of Statistics compared the 1996 knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey (n=969) to the 2001 Men's Involvement in Reproductive Health Survey (MIRHS) (n=1122) following the campaign.

Attitudes
In 2001, higher proportions of men regarded modern family planning methods as safe, effective, and permitted by Islam. For instance, half of men in 2001 - as compared to 34% in 1996 - gave the Intrauterine Device (IUD) a score of 5 or more on a safety scale from 1 to 10. On the same scale, 22% of men in 2001 versus 9% of those in 1996 considered the condom safe. In addition, more men considered the pill to be an effective planning model in 2001 (50%) than in 1996 (44%). The percentage of men who said that the IUD was "allowed by religion" increased from 30% in 1996 to 55% 5 years later. Accordingly, the proportions of those who cited the use of specific modern methods as forbidden by Islam and those who did not know the religious stance of specific methods decreased from 1996 to 2001.

Nearly 80% of MIRHS respondents said avoiding unwanted pregnancies is a shared responsibility of both husbands and wives.
Increased Discussion of Development Issues
MIRHS respondents received a list of topics from which they ranked issues discussed and actions taken as a result of exposure to the campaign. Respondents ranked discussing issues with spouses and sharing decision-making as the top actions taken, and included treating sons and daughters equitably and starting to use a family planning method as other actions taken.

The proportion of men who used a family planning method and discussed it with their wives increased from 93% to 98% between 1996 and 2001. Among women, this difference was not significant. In 2001, the majority of men and women reported that they decided together on the number of children to have compared to about one-third of those who decided together in 1996.

The campaign promoted smaller family size and the use of family planning to improve the quality of life for families through a short poem used as introduction to the five TV spots and four mini drama episodes used in the mass media campaign and community leaders' mobilisation sessions. The ideal family size declined from 4.3 in 1996 to 3.8 in 2001.
Source
"Men in Jordan Get Involved in 'Together for a Happy Family'" in JHUCCP's Communication Impact! January 2003, Number 14; and letter sent from Judy Heck to The Communication Initiative on August 19 2004.