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

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MacArthur Foundation Grant for Population and Reproductive Health (Nigeria)

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The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, philanthropic organisation based in the United States that makes grants with the aim of helping improve the human condition around the globe. The MacArthur Foundation in Nigeria is one of four offices of the Foundation that are located outside of the United States. The others are in Mexico, India, and Russia.

The Foundation supports efforts of civil society organisations they consider effective in analysing how public funds are allocated and in providing a sound basis for budget allocations for health. The Foundation supports civil society organisations that work for changes needed in health, education, and legal policies and that help to create the political will needed for their implementation. Special attention is given to activities that focus on increased budgets for maternal health, decreased deaths from abortion, and improved access to quality emergency obstetric care.

To promote the reproductive health and rights of young people, the Foundation focuses its grant making on initiatives that implement the federal government's national sexuality education curriculum. Grants are also made for the development and bringing to scale of models for out-of-school youth, so that they can be replicated in other states and nationally.


According to the Foundation, grants are awarded only to organisations that define clear objectives for their work and measures of progress toward those objectives. Typically, the Foundation provides multi-year support. Proposals must fit clearly within the geographic and thematic priorities of the Population and Reproductive Health area to be considered. Grants are made for work at the national level and for work in six states: Borno, Cross River, Enugu, Lagos, Kano, and Plateau.

Click here for more information.

Application Info

Organisations interested in applying for support should submit a letter of inquiry to the Foundation by mail to the office in Abuja or by e-mail to info-ng@macfound.org

There are four deadlines for application: February 1 2009, May 1 2009, August 1 2009, and November 1 2009.

Click here for information on how to apply.

Source

MacArthur Foundation website on February 10 2009.