Child rights action with informed and engaged societies

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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I Am Malala: A Resource Guide for Educators and A Toolkit for After-School Clubs

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To expand the reach of Malala Yousafzai's memoir, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, and spread her message to young activists around the world, the Global Women's Institute (GWI) of the George Washington University, in collaboration with the Malala Fund, developed a resource guide and toolkit for after-school clubs for high school, college and university students in the United States and around the world. Building on the content of Malala's memoir, the resources are designed to support global efforts to mobilise women and men to address women's and girls' rights to an education.

GWI explains that the Taliban destroyed more than 400 schools near Malala's home in Swat Valley, Pakistan, 70% of which were girls' schools. A July 2016 UNESCO report [PDF] indicates that more than 130 million girls around the world are out of secondary school.

The resource guide, which challenges university students to think deeply, share their experiences, and engage with their communities, is organised around these themes:

  • Memoir as literature and history
  • Education: a human right for girls
  • Cultural politics, gender and history in Malala Yousafzai's "I Am Malala"
  • Religion and religious extremism
  • Malala and violence against women and girls
  • Malala leadership essay
  • Malala and the media
  • Global feminisms: speaking and acting about women and girls

Each theme begins with learning objectives and a narrative, intended to start the conversation and help plan lessons. The theme then includes individual exercises, group activities, and resources to assist students and instructors in deepening their knowledge of a topic.

Recognising the growth and enthusiasm of after-school clubs, the GWI also developed a toolkit meant for high school students. This toolkit follows the same themes as the resource guide, but includes more activity-based material for the purpose of peer-led, after-school club groups. It is also less necessary to have access to Malala's memoir in order to use the toolkit.

Number of Pages

63 (Resource Guide); 28 (Toolkit)