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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Video for Women’s Voices (SEWA) - India

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A festival of video films made by rural women who have been trained by the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) of Ahmedabad was showcased in New Delhi in early 1999.
Communication Strategies

Video has become an integral part of SEWA's activities. It is used for income generation, employment, trade union movements, occupational health, wage negotiations, legal interventions, teaching new skills and advocacy for policy change.
Development Issues

Economic development, women, education, rights.
Key Points

Most of the women were poor and illiterate and clearly recognised the value of video as a tool for empowerment - to document grassroots issues, explore solutions, and to disseminate new techniques and skills to other communities.
Partners



Supported by National Foundation for India (NFI), an independent grant making foundation working with civil society organisations to augment community capability to address poverty related issues through a wider audience.

Sources

Paper provided by Nirupama Sarma to The Communication Initiative.