Development action with informed and engaged societies

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
1 minute
Read so far

Advocacy Strategies and Approaches: A Training of Trainers Manual

1 comment

Author

SummaryText
This resource manual and its companion, Advocacy Strategies and Approaches: A Resource Manual, have been developed for potential trainers of community-based organisations (CBOs) in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region, as well as for advocates of mountain people. The Training Manual provides a guide for conducting training on advocacy applicable to a variety of mountain development issues and themes. The Resource Manual provides more in-depth material on the subjects contained in the training manual. The books are intended to provide clarity on the concept of advocacy and to help equip CBOs and their networks with tools, strategies, and techniques to help them as they assist mountain people articulate their needs and perspectives to governments, policy makers, and development organisations. Both manuals are intended to appeal to development practitioners and others interested in promoting people-centred and sustainable mountain development.

From the Foreword:

"Participation of civil society organisations in development processes is recognised to be a critical factor for the promotion of sustainable mountain development. There is also evidence that mountain people tend to be marginalised from mainstream policy-making processes in most countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayas. One of the participatory ways to change this situation is to enhance the capacity of community-based organisations (CBOs) to bring the specific opinions and needs of mountain people to the attention of policy makers and development organisations. With this in view, ICIMOD started a ‘Regional Programme for Capacity Building of Community-based Organisations in Advocacy Strategies in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas’ in 2003 supported by the Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO), The Netherlands."

Sections include:

  • Front Matter
  • Day 1 Registration, Opening and Introduction
  • Day 2 Advocacy and Good Governance
  • Day 3 Policy Issues,Vision, and Goal; Audiences, Allies, and Opponents
  • Day 4 Strategies, Roles, Budgeting, and Monitoring
  • Day 5 Advocacy Tools, Techniques, and Country-level Strategies
  • One day Workshop on Advocacy Concepts and Tools
  • Back Cover


The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is an independent regional knowledge, learning and enabling centre serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayas – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan – and the global mountain community.

The work of Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO) consists of financing activities which stimulate and enable people to organise dignified housing and living conditions in their own way.
Number of Pages

160

Comments

User Image
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 12/26/2008 - 12:47 Permalink

I would like it