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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Wazi Campaign for Peaceful Elections

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The Wazi Campaign is a nationwide public awareness initiative launched ahead of Kenya's March 2013 elections that uses Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to educate citizens on issues such as corruption, leadership and integrity, peaceful elections, national cohesion, and devolution. The animated cartoon PSAs are being aired on television stations in Kenya, as well as shared via the internet through Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. The Wazi PSA Campaign forms part of the project "Public Awareness Campaign for Kenya: Promoting Peaceful Coexistence Amongst Different Ethnicities," and is implemented by Act! and its Kenya Civil Society Strengthening Program (KCSSP). It is funded by the United States Agency for International development (USAID) and the Department for International Development (DFID).

Communication Strategies

The PSAs are designed to promote ethnic tolerance and national cohesion, raise awareness on certain rights that Kenyans have under the new Constitution, and communicate mechanisms that are available to Kenyans to enforce their rights and to hold their duty bearers accountable. The slogan for the campaign is “Kenya Ni Jina, Nchi Ni Wewe” (Kenya's just a name, you are the country). In order to assess the impact of the campaign a baseline survey was conducted before the PSAs were produced and aired.
The produced PSAs include the following.

  • National Cohesion and Integration: The first in the series, this PSA focuses on promoting unity and cooperation amongst different ethnic groups in Kenya.
  • Fighting Corruption: The second PSA in the Wazi campaign series tackles the issue of corruption vs. integrity, encouraging people to walk a path of integrity as opposed to making corruption a way of life.
  • Leadership & Voting Responsibly: The third PSA encourages Kenyans to examine their leaders, and vote responsibly, not along tribal lines.
  • Celebrities United For Peaceful Elections: According to the Wazi campaign, this PSA was neither planned or budgeted for, but was initiated by celebrities who wanted to add their voice for peaceful elections.

Click here to watch the PSAs on You Tube.

 

People are also encouraged to learn more and interact with campaign through the Wazi Campiagn website, the WAzi Campaign facebook page and Wazi Campaign twitter.

Development Issues

Governance

Partners

Act!, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department for International Development (DFID).

Sources

Wazi Campaign website and Savvy Kenya website on February 28 2013.