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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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The 'What' and 'How' of Communication for Immunization - Part Two

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Author: Lora Shimp, June 13 2014 - "The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives" - Tony Robbins

Yesterday's blog discussed the "what" of immunization communication. Today, we discuss the often-challenging "how".

Communication and behavior change are part of social science, which - in the immunization context - can be applied in different ways depending on program needs, communities, networks, and country realities. Even with standardized guidance like the "Reaching Every District" (RED) approach, there is no one-size-fits-all for how to make communication most effective. Immunization programs do have several decades of experiences to build upon, however. [PDF] So, HOW is communication for immunization done?? At country level:

  • Supporting districts to identify and develop links/partnerships with community structures and networks (e.g. religious groups, women's groups, NGOs [non-governmental organisations], traditional leaders) and to strengthen this component within their RED workplans and strategies.
  • Enhancing community ownership by fostering community involvement in planning, monitoring and utilization of immunization services (e.g. conduct planning meetings with communities, provide them with status on immunization indicators, involve them in tracking newborns and immunization status of all children under two years of age, include them in organization of service schedules, locations and times).
  • Strengthening capacity (through training, supervision, feedback) of health workers/vaccination teams to plan and communicate immunization services effectively and actively with clients and the community (e.g. through communicating immunization data and using child health cards as reporting and information-sharing tools).

At global and regional levels:

  • Documenting and disseminating country best practices and commonalities in working with communities to empower them to strengthen services and increase coverage and utilization.
  • Adapting country experiences and case studies into electronic reference materials (e.g. websites, listserves), field guides and modules that address the community linkage component within RED.
  • Liaising with and provide technical support to inter-country experience exchange and to strengthen the immunization component in community activities of NGOs and field-oriented partners.
  • Promoting increased attention to linking communities and services through regional initiatives and fora.

Below are some additional references:

Editor's notes: