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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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Nomadic fulani communities manage malaria on the move

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Akogun, O. B., A. O. Adesina, et al. (2012). "Nomadic fulani communities manage malaria on the move." International Health (RSTMH) 4(1): 10-19.

Purpose: As in other public health efforts, the current promotion of insecticide-treated net (ITN) usage and prompt treatment of malaria has left the nomadic populations behind.

Methods: The hypothesis that nomads can apply the community-directed intervention (CDI) strategy for fever management in children under-5 was tested among nomadic Fulani communities in northeastern Nigeria. Twenty camps selected representatives who were trained to provide artemisinin-based combination therapy and ITNs to their members. Coverage was compared with existing practice in 20 other nomadic Fulani communities. At baseline, none of the camps had ITNs, and antimalarial usage was only 2.7% in intervention camps and 5.8% in comparison camps. The nomads redesigned the negotiated intervention delivery approach to suit their culture.

Results: Within 12 months antimalarial usage and appropriate management of malaria in children under-5 reached 88.0% and 81.7%, respectively, and within 24 months they reached 87.9% and 86.1%, respectively, surpassing the Roll Back Malaria target of 80% coverage by 2011. In contrast, usage was <5% in the comparison camps. ITN possession reached 66.7% and 73.2% in the first and second years, respectively, within intervention camps, but was unchanged in comparison camps. However, ITN usage remained low at 21.7% in the second year (P<0.05). When empowered, nomads will appropriately manage malaria using the CDI approach.