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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 cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Six forgotten female stories which now 'exist' on Wikipedia

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Originally posted on the BBC Media Action blog by Sam Waterton, Digital Editor, BBC Media Action, on December 9 2016 - Just 17% of profiles on Wikipedia are women. And even fewer exist in languages other than English. BBC Media Action teams in Nepal, Afghanistan and India joined a global edit-a-thon to help change the record as part of the BBC 100 Women season. Here are a few of the inspiring stories they added.

Lhakpa Sherpa

Lhakpa is a mountain climber who summited Mount Everest seven times, more times than any other woman in the world. Although her Wikipedia page already existed in English, her profile is now available for people to read in Nepalese too. Nisha Rai, who edited the page says, “I noticed that despite Lakpa being on the BBC 100 Women list – there wasn’t anything written on Wikipedia about her in Nepalese. Now I’ve updated her information, she can be an inspiration for women in Nepal [who don’t speak English] too.”

Late Parijat, Jhamak Ghimire and Radha Paudel

What do all of these famous Nepalese writers have in common? They’ve all won Madan Puraskar, Nepal’s most prestigious literary prize. “Although all of the writers already have short profiles on Wikipedia, there wasn’t a place to read about women who had won the prize”, says Bhawana Gurung, who added the page. “I wanted to make it easier for people to find these inspiring women. It felt great – and I’ll be putting even more information on their Wikipedia profiles in the next few days.”

Preethi Srinivasan

Preethi was captain of the under-19 Tamil Nadu women’s cricket team when a near fatal accident left her paralysed from the neck down. Undeterred by her life-changing injuries, Preethi co-founded Soulfree, a charity aimed championing the rights of people with disabilities. Payal Shah who created the page says, “I chose Preethi because her journey is one of exceptional courage and determination. She’s an inspiration to us all.”

Archana Sardana

Archana is India’s first BASE jumper and master scuba diver trainer. “Archana is one of those rare Indian women who ventured into extreme sports - where participation of women remains uneven”, said Padmapriya Sastry who added the article. “She is a living example that gender, age and marriage shouldn’t limit women from pursuing their dreams.”

Check out photos from BBC Media Action’s contribution to the BBC’s 100 Women Wikipedia edit-a-thon on Twitter.

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Click here to access this BBC Media Action blog.

Image credit: BBC 

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