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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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Motivational intervention to reduce rapid subsequent births to adolescent mothers: a community-based randomized trial.

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Barnet, B., Liu, J., DeVoe, M., Duggan, A., Gold, M., & Pecukonis, E. (2009). Motivational intervention to reduce rapid subsequent births to adolescent mothers: a community-based randomized trial. Annals of Family Medicine, 7(5), 436-445.

PURPOSE One-quarter of adolescent mothers bear another child within 2 years, compounding their risk of poorer medical, educational, economic, and parenting outcomes. Most efforts to prevent rapid subsequent birth to teenagers have been unsuccessful but have seldom addressed motivational processes.

METHODS We conducted a randomized trial to determine the effectiveness of a computer-assisted motivational intervention (CAMI) in preventing rapid subsequent birth to adolescent mothers. Pregnant teenagers (N = 235), aged 18 years and older who were at more than 24 weeks’ gestation, were recruited from urban prenatal clinics serving low-income, predominantly African American communities. After completing baseline assessments, they were randomly assigned to 3 groups: (1) those in CAMI plus enhanced home visit (n = 80) received a multi-component home-based intervention (CAMI+); (2) those in CAMI−only (n = 87) received a single component home-based intervention; (3) and those in usual-care control (n = 68) received standard usual care. Teens in both intervention groups received CAMI sessions at quarterly intervals until 2 years’ postpartum. Those in the CAMI+ group also received monthly home visits with parenting education and support. CAMI algorithms, based on the transtheoretical model, assessed sexual relationships and contraception-use intentions and behaviors, and readiness to engage in pregnancy prevention. Trained interventionists used CAMI risk summaries to guide motivational interviewing. Repeat birth by 24 months’ postpartum was measured with birth certificates.

RESULTS Intent-to-treat analysis indicated that the CAMI+ group compared with the usual-care control group exhibited a trend toward lower birth rates (13.8% vs 25.0%; P = .08), whereas the CAMI-only group did not (17.2% vs 25.0%; P = .32). Controlling for baseline group differences, the hazard ratio (HR) for repeat birth was significantly lower for the CAMI+ group than it was with the usual-care group (HR = 0.45; 95% CI, 0.21–0.98). We developed complier average causal effects models to produce unbiased estimates of intervention effects accounting for variable participation. Completing 2 or more CAMI sessions significantly reduced the risk of repeat birth in both groups: CAMI+ (HR = 0.40; 95% CI, 0.16–0.98) and CAMI−only (HR = 0.19; 95% CI, 0.05–0.69).

CONCLUSIONS Receipt of 2 or more CAMI sessions, either alone or within a multicomponent home-based intervention, reduced the risk of rapid subsequent birth to adolescent mothers.