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. 

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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Life Skills - Reduced Adolescent Anger, Depression, and Anxiety

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Strategy researched

Life skills programmes that addressed adolescent health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including mental health

Impact achieved

Interventions were effective in reducing symptoms of anger (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 1.234), improving life skills (SMD = 0.755) and functioning (SMD = 0.491), and decreasing PTSD (SMD = 0.327), and depression and anxiety (SMD = 0.305). The results demonstrate the benefits of life skills programmes targeting one or more mental health outcomes and co-occurring risk factors in school and community settings.

Country of study

LMICs

Research methodology

Systematic review of 33 RCTs

Journal

Behaviour Research and Therapy; 2020

Journal paper title and link

Implementation and effectiveness of adolescent life skills programs in low- and middle-income countries: A critical review and meta-analysis

Excerpt from Abstract

"Most of the RCTs, conducted across 19 LMICs, targeted students (82%) and refugees (7%), and both genders (71%). Most of the interventions were delivered by teachers (n = 12), and specialist providers (n = 11), and most were focused on high-risk groups rather than clinically-disordered populations. These interventions were effective in reducing symptoms of anger (SMD = 1.234), improving life skills (SMD = 0.755) and functioning (SMD = 0.491), and decreasing PTSD (SMD = 0.327), depression and anxiety (SMD = 0.305). Trial effectiveness was positively associated with the following life skills: interventions focused on parent-child interactions ([Beta (B)] = 0.557, p < 0.05), assessing interpersonal relations ([B] = 0.204, p < 0.05) and stress management ([B] = 0.216, p < 0.05)."