Soul Beat Africa
African development action with informed and engaged societies
Soul Beat Africa
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.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Impact Data - loveLife Campaign - South Africa

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Knowledge Shifts
Among youth who have heard of loveLife, about seven out 10 agreed with the statements "It made me think about making safer choices" (73%). Among youth who have heard of loveLife, 76% agreed with the statement that loveLife has caused them to be more aware of the risks of unprotected sex.
Practices
Thirty-nine percent of youth who had heard of loveLife looked for more information on sex, sexuality and relationships between men and women; 20% had visited a clinic or private doctor. Some who have heard of loveLife report making behavioral changes as a result of loveLife, including delaying or abstaining from sex (65%) and exploring other forms of sexual activity, like masturbation or oral sex (21%). Among the 20% of all youth who are both sexually experienced (defined as youth who report ever having had sexual intercourse) and who have heard of loveLife, almost eight out of 10 (78%) report that as a result of loveLife they have used condoms when having sex. Almost seven out of 10 (69%) sexually experienced youth who have heard of loveLife report it has caused them to limit or reduce their number of sexual partners, and 63% say it has caused them to be more assertive in insisting on the use of a condom. This means that in terms of sexually experienced South African youth overall, more than half (53%) report that as a result of loveLife they have used condoms when having sex, and almost half say that it has caused them to limit or reduce their number of sexual partners (47%).
Attitudes
A large majority (82%) of those youth who had heard of loveLife agreed that more open communication about sex and sexuality could help reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS. A similar number (80%) indicated that they believe that open communication could help reduce the risk of teen pregnancy. Large majorities also agreed that more open communication about sex and sexuality could encourage adolescence to be more responsible (76%) and encourage them to delay sex (72%).
Increased Discussion of Development Issues
A majority (58%) of the youth who had heard of loveLife reported that as a result of loveLife they had talked to their friends, family, or others about loveLife and/or lifestyle issues in general. A majority of youth who have heard of loveLife also report that as a result of it they are thinking about and discussing relationships - 67% say it has caused them to talk to their friends about sex, sexuality, and relationships between men and women, and 57% agree that it has caused them to think more about the openness and honesty of their romantic relationships. Among those who have heard of loveLife, 64% say it has provided them the opportunity to talk to their parents about HIV/AIDS, and nearly half say it has provided them the opportunity to talk with their parents about relationships between men and women (48%), sex (46%), and other difficult issues (48%). Among the 41% of parents of 12-17 year olds who have heard of loveLife, 61% say they have talked with their child about it.
Access
In terms of South African youth overall, loveLife's television campaign reached almost half of the country's youth (48%). Sixty-two percent of young South Africans report having heard of loveLife, including a majority of youth in all key demographic groups. For example, 62% of African youth, 58% of both coloured and Indian youth, and 67% of white youth are familiar with the programme. The majority of youth who describe their family as poor or very poor (58%) and those who say their family has enough to live on (63%) or more than enough to live on (67%) all report having heard of loveLife. Similarly, youth living in rural areas (61%) are just as likely to report having heard of loveLife as those who live in urban areas (62%).

Television and school rank as the most common sources of loveLife information. Large majorities of the 62% of youth who report having heard of loveLife say they heard of it from television (78%) or school (70%), though many other sources were also named by over half of the youth who were familiar with loveLife including radio (59%), newspapers (56%), billboards (52%), and taxis (52%). Clinics are also raising awareness of loveLife (40%), as are friends (37%) and Y-centers (23%).

South African youth almost universally watch television (95%) and listen to the radio (92%), and rank media as among the most common places they get information about sex and sexuality. Two-thirds of youth report that they get at least some information about sex, sexuality and relationships from television (72%), teachers (71%), magazines (67%) and friends (65%).
Source
loveLife website.