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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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High-powered Global Body Demands Restoration of PM's Polio Cell

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Summary

This news piece explores the importance of high-level advocacy and commitment in Pakistan, one of three remaining polio-endemic countries, in contributing to the global eradication of polio. It reports that, in a major development that unfolded on June 1 2013, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) demanded restoration of the Pakistani Prime Minister (PM)'s Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell, thereby putting immense pressure on the upcoming elected government to reverse the caretaker setup's controversial decision of dissolving the entity altogether. (A summary of this report is available in the Related Summaries section, below)

The IMB's latest report urges the new government to own the momentum that the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme achieved during the last two years: "Key to success will be the absolute and total engagement of district leaders, and a refusal to settle for the levels of access that the programme is currently achieving." It further adds that, while the previous government hands a strong programme onto the next, because of events in December 2012 (when several polio workers were murdered) and since, this is not a programme that can yet stop polio for good. "Those coming into power would do well to retain the organisational structure that has proved so successful. The next six months are absolutely vital. No time can be lost in re-establishing momentum after the electoral period," the report points out.

The report speaks highly of the National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP) for Polio Eradication: "District commissioners led the charge, many of them developing expertise in polio eradication as they took on direct responsibility for the work in their district." According to the IMB report, the composition of vaccinator teams has also improved. "There was a substantially heightened sense of accountability, and a tangible and energetic will to expel polio from Pakistan."

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Image caption/credit: "ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Justice (rtd) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso took notice of the reports in the media regarding closure of the Polio Cell in the Prime Minister's Secretariat, Sunday, June 2." From "Khoso Directs Revival of Polio Cell", Dawn.com, June 2 2013.