Development action with informed and engaged societies

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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Many Voices, One Vision: The Right to Communicate in Practice

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SummaryText
What does the right to communicate mean to millions of people marginalised by the political and economic self-interests of the North? How is concentration of media ownership threatening political activism and cultural diversity? What needs to be done to tackle the causes of the digital divide? How can the right to communicate guarantee equal access and participation in democratic decision-making? Why is it important to place safeguards on who owns and generates information and knowledge?

The aim of this book is to provide some grounding for discourse on the right to communicate, which includes many aspects of human life, from the right to be heard to the right to be silent.

Table of Contents
  • Grounding the human right to communicate - Cees J. Hamelink
  • The Right to Communicate: For Whom? - Judith Vidal-Hall
  • Exclusion or Inclusion: Linguistic Human Rightsfor linguistic minorities - Ulla Aikio-Puoskari and Tove Skutnabb-Kangas
  • The Right to Write: Gender-based Censorship and the Right to Communicate in India - Ammu Joseph, Vasanth Kannabiran, Lalitha Kumari, Ritu Menon and Gouri Salvi
  • Malaysian Women in the Information Society: Opportunities and Challenges - Wang Lay Kim
  • Communicating Truth in the Midst of Authoritarianism: Radio's Potential for Mediation in Latin America - Rolando Pérez
  • Human Rights, Participatory Communication and Cultural Freedom - Jan Servaes

Refer to the contact information below to order the book.
Number of Pages

165