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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Five Asian Countries Start Using ICT for Community Empowerment

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Summary

The use of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) in non-formal education programmes to foster participation of disadvantaged people in literacy, basic education and continuing education activities is at the centre of projects in Indonesia, Lao PDR, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uzbekistan that UNESCO's Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL) has launched with funds from Japan.


In Lao PDR, the project is focusing on improving village incomes amongst rural youth in Namon Nuea and Chahom villages in Vientiane province. Under the project, the Non Formal Education (NFE) Department intends to strengthen community learning centres (CLCs) to serve as resource centres where ICT equipment is used to disseminate news and information in various areas, including life skills and income generation.


In Sri Lanka, the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement is striving to establish multi-purpose community telecentres for community development in Rathnapura, Gampaha and Kuliyaputiya districts. Project activities include the development of community databases and the dissemination of appropriate information to villagers and entrepreneurs through Sarvodaya's Mobile Multimedia Unit.


In Thailand, under the Northern Regional NFE Centre, the project intends to develop inter-village connectivity and empower the members of rural communities, particularly youth, who want to use ICT as a tool for community development (especially in the areas of family accounting, community savings and community store accounting).


In Uzbekistan, the project aims at facilitating the application of ICT for community empowerment in Samarkand, Andijon and Bukhara. Under the project, the National Commission of Uzbekistan for UNESCO is striving to develop community databases and documentation for community planning and management.


In Indonesia, the Directorate General of NFE and Youth is planning to introduce an ICT-based learning model to CLCs in Central Java and South Kalimantan. The planned activities include community data collection using the PRA approach through CLCs and a programme using the Internet to enable greater access to data and improved information flows between local communities and the Government.


Click here for the full article online.

Source

The SANTEC Weekly Newsletter, April 2004 Information Update No. 4.