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+
Published 13 years ago
Last updated 3 years ago
Read so far

Urban community health volunteers

0 comments

Chaulagai, C. N. (1993). "Urban community health volunteers." World Health Forum 14(1): 16-19.

Introduction: In Nepal, the village health worker program in urban areas has not been effective; the volunteer program has never been tried. In order to increase use of basic health services, a program was initiated in 1987 in Pokhara to survey hospital and health utilization rates and baseline demographic conditions.

Methods: Urban community health volunteers (32) were trained to conduct a demographic and health survey, to educate and motivate people to use healthy and hygienic practices, and to use appropriate health services. Outreach clinics were established in each ware; home visits were made by the community health volunteers. Clinics attended to prenatal care, immunization, growth monitoring, family planning, and health education. Of the 32 volunteers, 14 males and 8 females dropped out due to the scarcity of incentives, lack of time, and no recognition. An evaluation of the program over the prior two years of operation was conducted in January, 1991, in order to assess the impact on knowledge, skills, behavior, and use of facilities.

Results and Conclusions: A random sample of 394 mothers with children aged 5 years, who were registered in the health ward and population registers, was selected for in-depth interviews. The results showed that only 70 of the mothers knew of community health volunteers in the wards; 56 had been in direct contact. 49 of those who knew about the volunteers considered the program helpful. 149 mothers knew about the mobile clinic in their wards; 100 of these mothers had used services in a hospital clinic. There was a lack of coordination among potential oversight agencies, such as: the Pokhara Municipal Office, the Shining Community Health Project, and the Kaski District Public Health Office. Replacement volunteers were not found and trained. Differences were found between service statistics and post-intervention survey results and were accounted for. Community health volunteers did not accurately record statistics on births, deaths, marriages, and migration. Females were more effective than males. Improvements were found in increases in prenatal care, immunization coverage, and use of oral rehydration. The deficiencies in the program were due to inadequate supervision, training, motivation, and follow-up.