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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Living Positively - West and Northern Africa

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Living Positively was initiated by the Family Health and AIDS (FHA) project and partners in 2002 to address the stigmatisation of, and discrimination against, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) in Francophone Africa. A comic book and video promote the concept of "living positively" with HIV/AIDS. These materials are geared toward the general public as well as those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, and cover topics such as how to reveal one's status to loved ones, join an association, accept a parent or friend living with HIV, and follow a healthy lifestyle.
Communication Strategies

"Living Positively" is a 42-minute video featuring testimonies from West Africans living with HIV/AIDS that describe how their families and community accepted them after learning their HIV status. A wide range of topics, from the most intimate to the more practical, is explored.


"Marcelline et Jojo: Un combat pour la vie" is a 32-page colour comic book that tells the story of a young student in his twenties who has just learned his HIV status and does not know where to turn. The publication provides advice on nutrition, the treatment of opportunistic infections, and the need to join a support group and/or an association for PLWHAs.


The objectives and content of the comic book and video were developed during a workshop that brought together PLWHAs; representatives of several PLWHA groups; representatives from NGOs in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal and Togo; health providers; HIV/AIDS programme managers; cartoonists; and a filmmaker.


The comic book and video will be distributed throughout Francophone Africa (West and Central) to national AIDS control programmes, PLWHA associations, AIDS NGOs, voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) sites, and FHA partners.

Development Issues

HIV/AIDS.

Partners

FHA, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs (CCP), UNAIDS, RAP+, le Réseau Africain des Personnes Vivant avec le VIH/SIDA. The programme is supported by the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID).

Sources

Press release forwarded by Kim Martin to The Communication Initiative on February 13, 2003.