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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100% Condom Use

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Summary

100% Condom Use



The World Health Organisation (WHO)'s "100% condom use" model seeks to ensure that condoms are used in every sexual encounter between a sex worker and a client in China, Myanmar, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines. In these countries, condom usage is low and prevalence of sexually transmitted infections is high, WHO officials say. For example, 20% of sex workers in China have never used a condom. In Vietnam, nearly a quarter of sex workers in Ho Chi Minh city are infected with HIV/AIDS.


Commercial sex has increased the incidence of HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region, where 7 million are afflicted. This region "is set to become the epicentre of the global pandemic in the next decade," according to the WHO. The 100% condom use model reflects health officials' fears that the wider population will begin to be infected at increasing rates (at least 30 million people are expected to be infected with HIV/AIDS in China and India by 2010).


The model is based on a policy that requires:

  • collaboration between local government, law enforcement, and health services;
  • education for sex workers and clients;
  • a readily accessible supply of condoms that meet international manufacturing standards; and
  • sanctions for non-compliant establishments.

The programme has been successful in Thailand and Cambodia; new infections have dropped by more than 80% since the peak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the last decade. Cambodia and Thailand are the only 2 Asian countries where HIV/AIDS cases are declining, largely because of widespread condom usage - more than 90% - in commercial sex establishments. Only 16% of cases in Thailand and 21% of cases in Cambodia developed from the sex industry compared with 80 to 90% during the peak of the epidemic. Now, most new infections are contracted through marital and casual sex, where condom use is low.


But the WHO policy has been criticised by some non-governmental groups, which argue that the UN agency is effectively condoning prostitution by encouraging condom use among sex workers. Some governments in the region, including in the Philippines (where the Church strongly campaigns against artificial contraceptives), are conscious of the challenge the model poses to religious and cultural taboos. WHO officials acknowledge that they initially faced difficulties in getting the message across to governments but that authorities in the region are now far more open due to the urgency of the issue.


Source

Push Journal, Daily News Feed, 18/08/2003 ("AIDS battle reaches new climax in Asia with aggressive condom policy", Agence France-Presse, August 15 2003); and Condom Promotion page on WHO site.