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. 

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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Nutrition Social Behaviour Change Communication - 87% of RCTs Reported a Significant Positive Effect on Early Initiation of Breastfeeding

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Strategy researched

Nutrition social behaviour change communication (NSBCC) interventions (interpersonal counselling, use of media (IEC materials, mass media, phone messaging), community mobilisation)

Impact achieved

Overall, almost two-thirds of the studies reported a significant positive effect on early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF). Of the 38 cluster RCTs studies reporting on exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), 33 (87%) found a statistically significant positive impact. All studies across all study designs: 6 out of 13 (46%) RCTs measured or reported on EBF and of these, 5 (83%) found a significant positive effect. Twenty-two out of the 51 (43%) cluster randomised trials measured and reported on EBF and of these, 20 (91%) reported a statistically significant positive impact.

Countries of study

38 studies from Asia, 35 from Africa, 6 from South America, and 1 from Europe

Research methodology

Systematic review with 80 studies (51 cluster RCTs and 13 RCTs)

Journal

Maternal and Child Nutrition; 2021

Journal paper title and link

The effectiveness of interventions on nutrition social behaviour change communication in improving child nutritional status within the first 1000 days: Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis

Excerpt from Abstract

"The overall intervention's effect was significant for exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) (odds ratio = 1.73; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.35-2.11, p < 0.001), HAZ [height for age z-scores] (standardized mean differences [SMD] = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.17-0.21; p < 0.001), WHZ [weight for height z-scores] (SMD = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.004-0.04; p < 0.001), and WAZ [weight for age z-scores] (SMD = 0.04; 95% CI: 0.02–0.06; p < 0.001). Evidence shows the effectiveness of NSBCC in improving EBF and child anthropometric outcomes."