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

Time to read
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Read so far

How the community radio will empower the Indigenous women

0 comments

Firstly, the importance of community participation relies on one fundamental premise and purpose of community radio: to serve the community and increase participation. In the context of India, where participation of the Adivasi (indigenous) people in decision-making apparatus has historically been denied to a large majority of the tribal population, our focus will be to become a tool for opening spaces in which the voices of those who cannot participate in decision-making processes at the local, regional and national level can be heard. This is especially true for Adivasi women as they seldom participate even in Gram Sansad Meetings (Local plan development meeting organised by Local Government) held in their respective villages.

Secondly, Culture is potentially a pedagogical tool that could be applied in Human Rights Education to inform women in general and Adivasi women in particular about their rights through the use of local language and expressions as many researchers say. Hence our community radio will also include and promote the identity and culture of the Adivasi radio listeners and the local community. This includes the use of distinct music, poetry, and other artistic expressions that are part of the traditions of the community.

The change that can be envisaged: It could be safely said that women’s empowerment is a process in which women acknowledge those power relationships that oppress them and respond individually or collectively by claiming their rights. Research studies say that the use of radio as a tool for transmitting educational messages relating to HR has proven to be successful, and even contributes to the empowerment of target communities by encouraging their access and participation in radio programs. Similarly, in this case also, as expected that Adivasi women who have been discriminated against historically and whose identity has been tainted with stereotypes will participate actively in the processes mentioned above and thereby will be in a position to use the autonomous space for them to redefine and recreate their culture, as well as to inform and motivate them to take action to claim and protect their rights.