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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Grassroots Options

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Grassroots Options is a media initiative of a group of working journalists in the North-eastern region of India. According to its initiators, it was established as a means of creating space to discuss and give voice to opinions on environmental and development issues in this remote region of biodiversity, traditional cultures, and small-scale communities. "The magazine mainly focuses on three key areas - people, environment, and development - in Northeast India, and its neighbouring Eastern Himalayan and Asian region that share unique geo-political history and socio-cultural affinities."

The online publication features news articles on local development-related issues, for example, Meghalaya tribal organisations taking issue on land use agreements with an international cement producer. It has an "Earth Watch" column, a dialogue section of interview and commentary, and an events posting section. Its features section focuses on local culture and tradition; for example, three recent topics are the folk belief of a mysterious tiger world - Ramia; the 'Lost Tribe' of Israel, Maneshe; and Thlen, a mythical figure. Its opinion section includes perspectives on local traditions and change, for example, the Khasi social custom of matrilineal kinship lineage-continuity.

The magazine, begun in 1994, has shifted from a paper to an online edition, ending its paper publication with the spring 2005 edition.

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Email from Linda Chhakchhuak to The Communication Initiative on July 28 2007.