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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Malaria Observatories: Bridge to Open and Collaborative Models

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Author: Dr Michel Odika, February 18 2015 - Today… The multiplication of information needs and users implies that the way malaria-related information is generated, used and shared also has to evolve. This critically depends on accessibility and transparency, for example, by making all malaria-associated information readily accessible via the Internet…

Increasingly… Worldwide, institutional reforms (1,2,3) call for open and collaborative models, such as “Malaria Observatories”, to ensure that all the best sources of data are tapped and information flows quickly to those who can translate it into appropriate action…

Strengthening governance and leadership with innovations from the field… Open and collaborative models, such as “Malaria Observatories”, offer specific models of complementing routine information systems, by directly linking the production and dissemination of strategic intelligence on health and social care to policy-making and to the sharing of best practices. In this regard, they simply reflect the increasing value given to cross-agency work, health inequalities and evidence-based policy-making. For example, they bring together various constituencies, such as academia, NGOs, professional associations, corporate providers, governmental institutions and others, around a shared agenda (the multisectoral response to malaria) of monitoring trends, studies, information sharing, policy development and, not least, policy dialogue.

Towards more stakeholder collaboration to tackle malaria… Once fully established, open and flexible configurations, such as “Malaria Observatories”, may provide continuity in settings whenever administrative and policy continuity may be affected by a rapid turnover of decision-makers – they thus institutionalize (1,2,3), improve and strengthen the linkages between “decision-making processes” and “evidence-based policy-making”…

Dr Michel ODIKA (Congo-Brazzaville)

 

1. Observatoire du Paludisme : ossature d’un projet (Michel ODIKA, Nouvel Observateur, Paris, 2013).

2. See also Malaria Response: Call for New Institutional Landscapes (Michel ODIKA, 2015).

3. See also Malaria Observatory: Human Development Project (Michel ODIKA, 2015)