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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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Get It Together Radio Dramas

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In February 2012 the Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) launched three 26-episode radio drama magazine programmes in Nigeria to encourage wider acceptance of family planning and to inform Nigerians of the benefits of modern family planning/child spacing. Titled Komin Nisan Jifa (Hausa programme), Ireti Eda (Yoruba programme), and Second Chance (Pidgin programme), the series combine entertainment and education to foster dialogue around family planning in Kaduna, Abuja, Ilorin, and Ibadan cities. The dramas were produced by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (JHU-CCP).
Communication Strategies

Each of the 26 radio programme episodes features a friendly host and hostess, drama, talk, music, comedy elements, vox pop, testimonials, and an expert corner where listeners’ questions are answered. Listeners compete for gifts by correctly answering weekly quiz questions via SMS. The episodes will depict how real Nigerians can overcome challenges to achieving their life goals, and are designed to encourage discussion in communities, in homes between spouses, at work, in daily life, and in the media.

 

The radio dramas are part of the "Get It Together - Know, Talk, Go" mass media campaign which encourages all Nigerians to KNOW the facts about family planning, TALK to their partner, and GO for services.

 

The media campaign is accompanied by social mobilisation activities. In each project city the Youth Urban Mobilization plan utilises advocacy champions, local peer educators, trade unions, and faith-based institutions to organise community and electronic media activities. "Get it Together" crews serve as on the ground mobilisation agents infusing interpersonal communication among friends, family, and communities with information about family planning and motivation to seek services.

Radio listeners can check out what everyone is saying about the programmes on the different Facebook pages: Get It Together–Ibadan, Get It Together–Ilorin, Get It Together–FCT, and Get It Together–Kaduna.

Development Issues

Family Planning

Key Points

NURHI is a five-year project (2009-2014) designed to increase use of modern contraceptive methods in the six Nigerian cities of Abuja, Benin, Ibadan, Ilorin, Kaduna,  and Zaria, with a focus on the urban poor. Through a strategic combination of service delivery, communication, and advocacy inputs the NURHI project is working to increase demand for and supply of family planning, ultimately leading to long-term market-driven sustainability.

Partners

Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI), Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (JHU-CCP)

Sources

NURHI website and JHU-CCP website and the NURHI factsheet [PDF} on March 27 2012.