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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Decision-making Tool for Family Planning Clients and Providers

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This tool aims to support family planning providers in counselling their clients in choosing and using a contraceptive method. The tool is designed as a flip-chart which can be read simultaneously by clients and providers who each will view an audience-specific page of the tool. The client side of the tool contains pictures to help illustrate concepts, while the providers' side contains additional text and supporting information.

The tool aims to guide a step-by-step family planning counselling process, and provides detailed technical information on 14 different contraceptive methods. Designed in PowerPoint, the files which make up the tool can be downloaded and adapted for use in national family planning programmes.

The tool contains a number of sections to help counsel clients with different needs, including clients choosing a method, returning clients, those needing dual protection, and clients with special needs. In addition, a separate section is devoted to each of the following contraceptive methods:
  • Emergency contraception
  • IUD
  • The pill (combined oral contraceptives)
  • The mini-pill (progestogen-only pill)
  • Long-acting injectables (DMPA and NET-EN)
  • Monthly injectables
  • Implants (Norplant)
  • Vasectomy
  • Female sterilisation
  • Male condom
  • Female condom
  • Vaginal methods (including diaphragm and spermicides)
  • Lactational amenorrhea method (LAM)
  • Fertility awareness-based methods
As of this writing, the resource is offered in 16 languages.
Languages

This tool has been translated into: Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, Burmese, Chinese, Dari, Divehi, Farsi, French, Hindi, Kosovar, Mongolian, Nepali, Romanian, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Number of Pages

230

Source

WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research new publications press release, September 30 2005; WHO website; and emails from WHO to The Communication Initiative on November 1 and November 2 2005.

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Click here to access this document in PDF format.