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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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By, For and About Positive People

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Internews Cambodia

Summary

From the July/August issue of Global AIDSLink, published by the Global Health Council, this article is a first-person account of the use of interpersonal communication as a support for empowerment of HIV-positive people in the Khmer region of the border of Cambodia. The author writes about her experience as a person living with HIV/AIDS in a culture of stigmatisation and her empowerment through the personal testimony of a woman living with HIV/AIDS and through her participation in a support group of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).


The author joined with PLWHA to demand better access to medical services through a local group called Road of Life (Vithey Chivit). Her fight against discrimination led her to create, with a group of 28 women, the “Women for Hope Club". The club, Cambodia's first HIV positive women's group, serves as a source of emotional support, assistance, and income generation.


This document is accessible online for members of the Global Health Council. Membership is available on the Global Health Council website.

Web link
Click here and scroll to Issue 104 in the left hand column to access the full t…
Source

Email from Sara Friedman to The Communication Initiative on July 14 2008.