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.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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What Would You Do? Computer Game

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Launched by the United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF) in an effort to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS by empowering young people around the world, "What Would You Do?" (Ungefanyaje?) is a computer game about the lives and relationships of 4 teenagers. Offered in both English and Kiswahili, the game takes players through a series of relationship-based scenarios to highlight the importance of HIV prevention and testing.
Communication Strategies

This initiative draws on the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to educate as they entertain - with the interactive nature of the experience being a key strategy.

In the game, which is free to download in English or Kiswahili (click here), players choose from different options as 2 male and 2 female characters embark on relationships. As part of the instructions, a player is informed that "you can play the game as many times as you want, and each time have a different experience by making different decisions. See how your choices change the course of events...and the lives of the 4 characters." Youth are, that is, challenged to ask questions as they try out different relationships and situations. The idea is that - whereas it may not be possible to go back and change the course of events in "real life" - such freedom of choice is possible in the context of a computer game. The hope is that, by participating in such an experience, albeit "virtual", youth can develop the decision-making skills they need to take control of their relationships/lives.

Development Issues

HIV/AIDS, Youth.

Key Points

The UN estimates that approximately 80% of all young people do not know how to protect themselves from AIDS. Africa accounts for most of the world's 2.3 million children who are HIV-positive. More than 100 million people speak Swahili across east African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Sources

Email from Voices of Youth (VOY) to The Communication Initiative on November 20 2006; and What Would You Do? page on the VOY website.