The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
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.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Invitation to join the Global Hack as a Mentor / spread the word & invite your networks

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COVID-19 is the greatest challenge that we have faced together since the formation of the United Nations. This is a very unique situation as the whole world is tackling the same problem all at once, together. Creative and transformative solutions are needed to respond to the speed, scale and severity of the outbreak, as well as its societal and economic disruptions. In this sense, hackathons provide the collaborative environment to create, test and validate solutions through rapid prototyping.

This is why the UN SDG Action Campaign is joining forces with the organising teams behind The Global Hack to invite people from every corner of the world to participate in the biggest hackathon that has ever been held. We are calling for 1 million problem solvers - global leaders, government officials, activists, experts, startups and private sector leaders, media and creatives, developers and literal hackers - to join the #TheGlobalHack from 7 - 12 April 2020 to co-create solutions to this global health crisis and beyond. Different tracks will look for solutions to the many pressing issues, aligned to key SDG areas of focus.

The UN SDG Action Campaign have launched the Solidarity in Action track to co-create solutions that that harness the positive power of solidarity and coordinated action to tackle this global challenge together and maintain this momentum beyond the crisis. This is the time to generate individual actions people can take and ways in which those actions can be connected for greater impact.

How does #theGlobalHack work?
A hackathon is a model for ‘hacking problems’ in a condensed period of time together, to move beyond ideation to the development of solutions more like a marathon than a sprint. The Global Hack will run across a period of 48 hours, where teams of 6-12 people with diverse skill-sets, insights and expertise will work on solutions for predefined challenges. When registering you can identify the timezone you work within and you will be added to a slack channel - a widely used communication platform for team working and direct contact with remote team members anywhere in the world. This channel is where the ‘hack’ takes place, and where the organising team and key experts will explain you the next steps and answer any questions you may have. Everyone voluntarily participating is driven by the mission to build out solutions that can be developed and scaled to meet the needs of the challenge at stake. See more about what inspired the Global Hack from the Founder and the global network

There are variety of ways to engage, contribute and support The Global Hack - given your skills and leadership, we’d be particularly interested in inviting you to join the collaboration as a mentor!

Inspiring mentors with track-relevant skills and insights will guide a team of solution-creators across the 2 day challenge. For more information about the focus areas of the tracks and to register your participation as a much-needed mentor, register here.
*Mention the UN SDG Action Campaign in your registration and let us know you have registered so we can fast track your engagement.

Support the momentum and bring talented experts from your network on board and share the registration link with them too! Simply forward the mentor registration link to any amazing people you work with, you are just an email away from helping us build this momentum and the skillsets engaging even further!

Other opportunities for join The Global Hack include:

  • Share your ideas: The idea submission is now open! Post and discuss ideas, get feedback, find teammates and get inspired - Propose a challenge
  • Register a team: Once you’ve found an attractive idea, assemble a team on of 6-12 dedicated people with the necessary skills and start hacking!

Deadline to register, propose a challenge or join a team is 7 APRIL.

Spread the word through your social channels, join & invite your network to Facebook and LinkedIn events, and follow #TheGlobalHack conversation on @SDGAction.

Join us in this opportunity to harness this collective strength of humanity to first beat the virus and then change the world for the better.