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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A Rights-Based Approach to Participatory Video

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From InsightShare, this is a practical, do-it-yourself guide for leaders and facilitators wishing to strengthen their work through introducing a rights-based approach to participatory video. Featuring illustrations and dynamic links to videos and photostories, this toolkit is intended to be a practical guide. It includes exercises and techniques, facilitator checklists, case studies, templates, resource lists, and copies of key human rights instruments. Explained here are core concepts such as why participatory video favours an overt rather than covert approach to helping groups shape their rights-based video messages and the importance of identifying and valuing "home-known rights" to avoid imposing lists of rights that could be perceived as alien or agitating.

The stage-by-stage descriptions include some elemental processes (e.g., the storyboard technique) and some classic games and exercises. It builds upon basic participatory video games and exercises as they are described in the handbook (accessible through the Related Summaries section, below).

The publication of this toolkit was supported by funds from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Human Rights Strengthening Programme (GHRSP) through the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) implemented by the UNDP on behalf of the GEF partnership of agencies.

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Emails from Soledad Muñiz and Marlene Bovenmars to The Communication Initiative on July 26 2010 and May 10 2012.