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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Impact Data - Improving the Reproductive Health of Youth in Mexico

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Date
Knowledge Shifts
Awareness of contraception was high and increased over time, with the proportion of youth knowing about family planning rising from 57% to 66%. Youth in all groups knew about 6 methods at baseline and endline. Knowledge of how to use a method was mixed - for example, only 20% of adolescents knew that pills must be taken every day. Among adolescents who knew about contraception, the condom was almost universally known. Over 80% of adolescents had some knowledge of correct condom use.

Knowledge of HIV/AIDS increased from 63% to 85%; similar increases took place at both intervention and control sites. Among those who had heard of HIV/AIDS, 83% mentioned sexual relations and over 30% mentioned blood transfusions as means of transmission. Knowledge of condoms as a means of protection increased from 56% to 78%. Less than 5% of youth surveyed mentioned fidelity to one partner as a means of avoiding HIV. In addition, less than half of adolescents surveyed following the intervention had heard of other sexually transmitted infections.
Practices
Of youth aged 10 to 19, only 10% had sexual experience at baseline (and 11% at endline) and 43% of experienced adolescents were either married or cohabiting. Both before and after the intervention, and in both experimental and control groups, boys were at least twice as likely as girls to use a method. The great majority obtained the method - most often a condom - from a pharmacy (85%) rather than a government clinic (6%).

A comparison between intervention and control areas showed few behavioural changes that could be attributed to the intervention. Organisers explain that this may have been due to the very large catchment areas, contamination in the implementation of the intervention, or additional social factors that affected attitudes and behaviours.
Attitudes
More respondents from all groups had heard about contraceptive options after the intervention, and the perception that young people are treated respectfully when buying contraceptives in pharmacies increased.
Access
Over 350 talks on reproductive health topics were given for 8,103 youth, 106 for 3,106 teachers, and 199 for 2,096 parents. Over 14,000 students, parents, and teachers attended courses and talks given by MEXFAM's Young People Program (YPP) coordinators and multipliers. Most adolescents (about 70%) reported that they had received sex education at school. The 100 participating providers reported that they had given over 60,000 medical services to adolescents, more than half related to reproductive health.
Source
Letters sent from Laura Raney to the Communication Initiative on September 25 and December 4 2003; and Operations Research summary on the FRONTIERS site.