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Child rights action with informed and engaged societies
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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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Go Girls! Initiative

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Implemented from October 2007 to March 2011, the PEPFAR Gender Special Initiative on Girls’ Vulnerability to HIV, known as the Go Girls! Initiative (GGI), was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHUCCP), MACRO International, and various country partners. The initiative worked to reduce adolescent girls’ risk of HIV infection in Botswana, Malawi, and Mozambique through a multisectoral, integrated programme based on community mobilisation, adult–child communication, reality radio, school- and community-based life skills, training for school personnel on creating a safe school environment, and economic strengthening.
Communication Strategies

According to JHUCCP, the Go Girls! Initiative (CGI) was designed to shift the focus from girls 'individual risk-taking to contextual factors that render girls vulnerable. The purpose of GGI was to develop, implement, and test social, gender, and behaviour change communication approaches, in an effort to reduce adolescent girls’ susceptibility to HIV infection. Approaches included: addressing contextual factors that present barriers to accessing education; increasing girls resilience through building life-skills; strengthening parents and other adults ability to communicate with and support girls; and community dialogue and action.

According to JHUCCP, the initiative began by mapping existing programmes and activities working on HIV prevention and/or gender and HIV related activities in each project country. Formative research was carried out to understand community perspectives on girls’ vulnerability and contribute to programme design and development. Following this, training was undertaken with non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners in mobilising communities to take action on girls’ vulnerability. Teachers were also trained in how to provide a safe and supportive school environment for girls. Toolkits were developed for the interventions, including tools for community mobilisation, school personnel training, community-based life skills for girls, and school-based life skills for girls and boys.

The initiative also included a radio programme using reality programming techniques, as well as training for radio producers.

As part of the project, GGI’s launched the Go Families! adult-child communication programme. This training programme emphasised the need for programming that gives adults the skills they need to build strong, nurturing relationships with their children and other adolescents in the community. According to JHUCCP, there is a need to reach girls before they become sexually active but this approach to talk to girls about sex before sexual debut is met with resistance from parents. GGI developed the adult-child communication programme component to address adults’ reluctance to discuss sexuality with children.

JHCCP adds that a strong process evaluation monitored the programme implementation, and qualitative and quantitative research was designed to examine what makes girls vulnerable to HIV and develop tools to measure vulnerability.

Development Issues

HIV/AIDS, Reproductive Health

Partners

United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHUCCP), and MACRO International

Sources

USAID website and JHUCCP website on April 28, 2011.