Children
Child rights action with informed and engaged societies
Children

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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Children As Media Producers (CAMP)

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CAMP©-Children As Media Producers is a participatory video initiative of the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad (India). The basic premises of CAMP include:

  • "Children must be seen as producers and contributors of information and not only as consumers.
  • Community media can play an important role in strengthening cultural rights, and in particular, the rights of linguistic and cultural minorities, and indigenous peoples by providing access to the means of communication.
  • Access to the means of communication must be supplemented by education and training to assist a critical understanding of the media and to enable children to develop their media and communication skills."
Communication Strategies

CAMP seeks to use the power of video for social change. It works with agencies on projects that aim at building human capacities in participatory video production and, in turn, network with social movements and campaigns that believe in using information and communication technologies (ICTs) for action. Through projects it engages in with its partners, CAMP aims to demystify ICTs and form a network of video activists.

 

As part of a contest that took part in 2010, over 200 children belonging to different social strata - some of whom were affected by HIV or who are streetchildren, orphans, and so on - from Andhra Pradesh wielded the camera to produce films on child rights, education, health and hygiene, etc. What ensued was a 2-day festival, with over 1,500 children and over 600 adults in attendance. Every child who participated in the film-making process was given a certificate of participation. Two Best Contributor Trophies (facilitating organisations that actively participated in the entire process and submitted thought-provoking films produced by children) were also awarded: one to a civil society group and another to a school from Hyderabad. Every organisation that participated in the festival was also presented with a memento.

 

Videos made by the children as part of CAMP can be viewed here. The CAMP website also features a number of resources on participatory video as a communication strategy, particularly when working with children and youth.

Development Issues

Children, Youth.

Partners

Initial funding was provided by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Hyderabad Field Office.

Sources

Submission to The Communication Initiative from fverani, March 17 2011; CAMP website, December 30 2011; and email from Vasuki Belavadi to The Communication Initiative on January 11 2012.