African development action with informed and engaged societies

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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Women's Health, Child Health and Nutrition Clinic - South Africa

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Initiated by the South African NGO Zanempilo Trust, this programme focuses on women attending the nutrition clinics in South Africa with their children, providing them with education while they are waiting for their food supplements.
Communication Strategies

Community health workers (CHWs), who are trained, salaried workers elected by and answerable to their communities, speak with mothers in Brown's Farm or Samora Machel who are waiting to be admitted to nutrition clinics in an effort to make them aware of resources available within their community; at the same time, mothers provide the CHWs with information. The nutrition clinic is run every fortnight by three CHWs, one coordinator, and a primary health care sister.


CHWs also carry out home visits, which involve assessing children and adding those whose weight is below the 3rd percentile to a malnutrition register. These cases are then referred to the nutrition clinics. At the clinic, the children are weighed and their progress is noted. The clinic CHWs also educate the mothers about malnutrition, health issues, and social issues.

Development Issues

Women, Children, Nutrition, Health.

Key Points

Funded by the European Union and the Provincial Administration of the Western Cape (PAWC), Zanempilo is a South African NGO that delivers holistic primary health care services to disadvantaged peri-urban and rural communities in the Western Cape.

Partners

Zanempilo Trust, Save the Children Fund.