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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New Software Provides Secure Worldwide Tracking and Documentation of Human Rights Abuses

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Summary

The Benetech Initiative and The Asia Foundation have produced "The Martus Human Rights Bulletin System," an open source technology tool designed to assist human rights organisations in collecting, safeguarding, organising, and disseminating information about human rights abuses. Martus was first installed on Internet-connected workstations in the Philippines.


Currently, according to organisers, much of the violation and abuse information gathered by grassroots human rights groups is lost to confiscation, destruction, or neglect, making it difficult for prosecutors, truth commissions, and others to use the information as evidence to hold the perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable for many of their crimes. The Martus software is designed to enable grassroots NGOs to securely store their records on off-site servers with easy-to-use software, preserving crucial evidence for research, investigation, and prosecutions.


Future applications of the Martus software for social justice groups include monitoring other issues like violence against women, human trafficking, environmental destruction, and hate crimes. The software and its source code are available for download at the Martus site.

Source

Press release dated January 15, 2003, posted as a Human Rights Bulletin System Project Update on the Martus site.