Summits - SBCC and C4D
Gathering in person to advance informed and engaged societies
Summits - SBCC and C4D

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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Contraceptive practices in Armenia: panel evaluation of an information-education-communication campaign

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Thompson, M. E., & Harutyunyan, T. L. (2006). Contraceptive practices in Armenia: panel evaluation of an information-education-communication campaign. Social Science & Medicine, 63(11), 2770-2783.



Abstract

Induced abortion remains the major form of birth control among Armenian women, contributing to their excess mortality and preventable morbidity. Reliance on abortion is attributed to limited access to information concerning modern methods of contraception and to widely held misinformation among women regarding family planning and reproductive health. Based on the Steps to Behavior Change model, the Green Path Campaign for Family Health, an information-education-communication (IEC) campaign, was launched in June 2000. This multimedia campaign promoted greater awareness, knowledge, acceptance, and adoption of modern contraception through increased utilization of counseling and related services provided at underutilized family planning centers. A representative panel of 1088 married women aged 18-35 were surveyed on reproductive health/family planning knowledge, attitudes, and practices immediately prior to and immediately following the 6-month national campaign. Exposure to the campaign was associated with significant increases in factors associated with contraceptive behavior change: knowledge, favorable attitudes toward modern methods, favorable attitudes toward family planning services, and information seeking and utilization of family planning services. Women who were more educated, more affluent, and slightly older were more likely to use family planning services as well as modern contraceptive methods. New visits to family planning centers increased by 84%. Despite the usual 25% turnover among those using modern methods at the start of the study, use of modern contraceptive methods increased by 4.6%, significantly exceeding the projected 3% increase. The results document changes in underlying behavioral predictors consistent with the Steps to Behavior Change model and highlight the relatively untapped potential of media-based health promotion efforts in post-Soviet Republics.