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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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Communicating about Avian Influenza: A Guide for People Who Work in the Community

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This 2-page document created by the Academy for Educational Development (AED) for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) gives some suggestions to public health workers for effective communication to families about how they can reduce the risk that Avian Influenza (bird flu) will take hold in their community.

The paper recommends certain behaviours during a visit, including building confidence and trust, telling people about control efforts, leaving leaflets, and asking for support. The document delineates what should always be the attitudes - listening carefully, as well as being reassuring, motivating, and honest - and what should never be the attitudes - anger, impatience, blame, arrogance, negativity, giving answers when one doesn't know the answer, and taking notes (which can cause anxiety in the interaction). It gives talking points to use with families regarding Avian Flu and five specific actions they can take regarding poultry, hygiene, cooking of chicken and eggs, and visits to poultry farms and markets.

Click here to download this document in PDF format in English.

Click here to download this document in PDF format in French.

Click here to download this document in PDF format in Portuguese.

Publishers

Languages
English, French, Portuguese
Number of Pages
2
Source

Avian and Pandemic Influenza Resource Link on August 11 2007.