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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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Breast-feeding knowledge and practices among mothers in Manisa, Turkey

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Yanikkerem, E., R. Tuncer, et al. (2009). "Breast-feeding knowledge and practices among mothers in Manisa, Turkey." Midwifery 25(6): e19-e32.

Objective: to determine breast-feeding knowledge and practices among mothers before and after an educational intervention on breast feeding.

Design: cross-sectional, descriptive study using a face-to-face questionnaire.

Setting: Manisa Maternity and Children's Hospital, which has Baby Friendly status.

Participants: 158 women in the early postpartum period.

Measurements and findings: 10.8% of women were not aware that they should offer colostrum to their babies. Only 43.7% of women commenced breast feeding within the first 30 minutes of giving birth. Prior to receiving the educational intervention, 55.7% of mothers knew how often they should feed their baby, 48.7% knew that they should breast feed their baby for two years together with additional food, although 55.1% of women did not know how to hold their breast during a feed. The mean pre-test score was 9.9 (SD 2.4; range 3-13), and the mean post-test score was 12.6 (SD 0.8; range 9-13). The difference between the mean pre- and post-test scores was statistically significant (paired t=15.3, df=157, P<0.001).

Conclusion and implications for practice: given the integral role of breast feeding in improving overall community health, regular breast-feeding counselling should be offered, particularly during the pregnancy and early postpartum period