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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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Steps for the Future Video Collection - Southern Africa

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The Steps for the Future video collection is a collection of films from seven different Southern African countries. The films highlight "positive, provocative, humourous, brave and unusual stories about how individuals are confronting their lives and how societies are having to change under the impact of HIV/AIDS."

The collection emerged out of a collaboration of Southern African and international filmmakers, broadcasters, AIDS organisations and people living with HIV / AIDS who have united to produce professional films. "These compelling stories reveal the effect of the HIV / AIDS pandemic on the lives of individuals, families, communities and nations."
Communication Strategies

The films form part of a media–advocacy campaign, which is intended to promote debate and discussion around HIV/AIDS, as well as related topics such as disclosure, discrimination, treatment, and living positively.


Diverse perspectives are presented through the eyes of a range of people and communities. "These stories celebrate the strength of the people who share and reflect on their experiences of HIV/AIDS. Steps for the Future not only challenges fear and stigmatisation with stories of hope, but also dismantles discrimination and ignorance by cultivating tolerance and promoting the belief that actually, life is a beautiful thing."


Many well recognised professionals in the international field of documentary filmmaking have collaborated to create this. "The films have been screened at a wide range of festivals, and are available for organisations to use." To maximise the use and effectiveness of the films, an accompanying facilitators guide was developed.


Development Issues

HIV/AIDS

Key Points

"Southern Africa is the new centre of the global AIDS crisis. Nowhere else in the world is it spreading as fast as in this region. Statistics are alarming. The average life expectancy of around 65 years is said to drop to 40, or maybe 30, within ten years. Every second a fifteen-year-old in South Africa could die by 2010. Already every fourth university student in many of the universities throughout the region is HIV positive. There are 12 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa. This is the part of the story, which has been receiving all the attention. But there is another one, happening now, which has another focus, other than the impending tragedy. Most people are still living with HIV, not dying from AIDS."


The project aims to show the living, rather than the dying, and their struggle to avert the tragedy. "Living with HIV is an incredibly intimate and personal experience, and yet it is an experience that needs to be shared if families, communities and the public at large are to fully understand the reality and consequences of the disease. This understanding is needed in order to demystify and destigmatise HIV and those affected by it, and thus remove the veil of secrecy that arguably sustains the virus' spread."

Partners

Finnish Broadcasting Company / YLE2 Documentaries, Day Zero Film & Video from South Africa, Government of Finland, Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation (SIDA), Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA), Department for International Development (DFID, UK), Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), Government of the Netherlands, The Soros Documentary Fund.

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/17/2008 - 00:19 Permalink

This is highly informative piece of information because it gives one ideas how to educate the communities about HIV/AIDs creatively. It would be great to have copies of these films.