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

Time to read
less than
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 21 years ago
Last updated 1 year ago
Read so far

Getting Smart: Strategic Communications for Gender Activists

1 comment
This manual aims to build the strategic communications capacity of gender activists in the Southern African region. It provides a resource which can be used as part of a training course that enables participants to develop an actual communications strategy.

The manual includes three different kinds of resources:
  • Exercises: Each module provides a number of exercises for soliciting participants' contributions and participation.
  • Background relevant material: As handouts for participants and/or as preparation for the facilitation.
  • Facilitator(s) experiences and the experiences of participants in the training are, according to the authors, an invaluable resource. The publication encourages the facilitator to make notes of stories or experiences participants can use to help illustrate different points issues in the training.
  • Additional examples: The examples given are designed to spark the imagination of the trainer. Where appropriate, the trainer can substitute the examples in the kit with more relevant and recent examples.

The manual also aims to assist gender activists in Southern Africa to communicate their message more effectively. It also contains resources for any activist group that seeks to sharpen its communications skills and strategies, and can be adapted for use in other regional contexts.

Chapters include:
  • How to use this manual
  • What is communications?
  • Getting started on your communications strategy
  • Messages and materials
  • Personal and traditional media
  • Mainstream media
  • Community media

Publishers

Publication Date
Source

Gender Links website.

Comments

User Image
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/18/2005 - 03:04 Permalink

There is no active link for Getting Smart: Strategic Communications for Gender Activists