Media
Media development action with informed and engaged societies
Media

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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Femsud’s Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS Campaign

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Femsud Consult, based in the Netherlands, carried out a week-long public awareness campaign in 2004 using radio, print media, exhibitions, sporting and public events, debates and music concerts to honour the international day of the fight against AIDS, on the theme girls and women against HIV/AIDS. The campaign was called “Les femmes, les filles, le VIH et le SIDA” (women, girls, HIV and AIDS) and was held November 25 to December 3 2004. The goal of the week-long programme was to create public awareness in Maroua, in the north of Cameroon. In late 2005, a similar campaign will be carried out in the east of the country.
Communication Strategies
The goals of the week-long campaign included:
  • equipping women and girls with the knowledge, attitudes and reflexes to be better able to fight HIV/AIDS;
  • raising awareness amongst girls and women about the social and environmental effects of HIV/AIDS
  • encouraging girls and women to dedicate themselves to the struggle against HIV/AIDS, particularly in the northern part of the country;
  • remove all doubts as to the existence of HIV/AIDS;
  • provide information and documentation for society, particularly girls and women;
  • involve teen mothers, encouraging them to talk about their experiences relating to HIV/AIDS prevention; and
  • educate entrepreneurial women and involve them in educational, mentorship roles.

Activities included the following interactive events:
  • an hour-long interactive radio programme organised in collaboration with Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) Maroua;
  • a question and answer quizz competition held between various groups of girls and women, including schoolgirls, prostitutes and HIV-positive women;
  • a moderated exhibition of photos, magazines, publications, folders, brochures on HIV/AIDS in the Cameroon and beyond;
  • a moderated debate workshop about the care of HIV-positive people in the northern part of the country;
  • a horse race, a popular activity in that region, mobilising public attendance and public awareness-raising;
  • an evening at which national orchestras performed and to which members of the public, state and relevant non-governmental organisations were invited;
  • a press release geared at the general public was provided to CRTV, in order to release it in various local languages before and over the course of the week;
  • a press kit both in English and French distributed to diverse media who then disseminated the information;
  • an open-air debate about HIV/AIDS was held with three doctors and a health worker present;
    • and
  • illustration or drawing competitions relating to HIV/AIDS .
Development Issues
Gender, HIV/AIDS, Youth, Women.
Key Points
In 2006, the programme plans to continue its work, focusing on malaria and tuberculosis, using music, testing or screening drives and integrating a socio-economic component. Screening drives are set to start in lower-income areas and in villages, using a bottom-up method and endorsing socio-economic support for ill people and their families.
Partners

Femsud Consult, Groupe Technique Provincial de la lutte contre le VIH/SIDA Extreme Nord, Organisation Pour le Developpement et l'Education des Filles (OPDEF).

Sources

Huguette Samgot sent an email to the Soul Beat Africa team on 23 June 2005.

Media
Media development action with informed and engaged societies