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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WASH-Friendly Schools Training Guide for Parents, Teachers and Student Leaders

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SummaryText
This training guide promotes the WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) in Schools movement to create and maintain “WASH-Friendly Schools” that have safe and healthy environments, including adequate facilities for hygiene and sanitation that allow children to be healthier and more attentive. The guide is intended to help teachers, parents, and students work together to carry out a plan for making their school WASH-friendly.

The contents are adapted from United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Hygiene Improvement Project (HIP) country-specific experiences in Madagascar and Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, HIP was able to pilot this training guide as part of its Community-led Total Behavior Change in Hygiene and Sanitation Program in the Amhara region, with the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program and the Amhara Bureaus of Health and Education. Feedback from regional, zonal and district administration and WASH officials, trainers, teachers, parents, and youth leaders helped to strengthen and improve the training guide.

The guide has 9 sessions for a 2-day workshop, with instructions for the workshop facilitator. Each session includes objectives, materials/preparation, and then the steps to follow to facilitate the session. Templates for handouts or reproductions on flipcharts are included.
Publication Date
Number of Pages

57

Source

Email from Patricia Mantey to The Communication Initiative on September 10 and 27 2010.