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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Passion for Radio: Radio Waves and Community

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Provides a fascinating glimpse of community radio in the very early 1990s, and a reminder of how much has changed, and how much has not... Written by people actively and passionately involved in the medium, the book presents twenty-one alternative radio experiences from countries on every continent of the globe. From the El Salvador guerrilla-operated Radio Venceremos to the native-owned Wawatay Radio Network in Northern Canada, alternative and community radio stations play an essential role for those at the margins of society-a medium that lets them speak as well as hear. Among the stories told in the book are: Radio Echo of Moscow and the August 1991 coup d'Ttat; two women's radio projects-in Peru and the Philippines: how indigenous people's radio in Canada and Mexico strengthen their communities: the Marconi Radio Taster's CafT that is the doorway to the world of Radio 100, an Amsterdam squatters' station: the positive and negative side of international aid for a Sri Lankan local radio project: the history and prospects for community radio in South Africa: a tiny Black "pirate" station that has challenged the police and the Federal Communications Commission in the USA; the role of the El Salvadoran guerrilla station Radio Venceremos in a major rebel offensive. The electronic edition also includes a new chapter about Radio Chaguarurco, a station serving rural communities in Ecuador.

The first edition of A Passion for Radio Waves was published by Black Rose Books with the support of AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. In 2001, Amy Mahan, designed the electronic edition and helped deal with technology-induced quirks.

Click here for the online version of this publication.

Click here for the online Spanish version of this publication.

The book is also available on CD Rom. Send an email to passionCD@comunica.org for details.