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 cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Urban Health Initiative (UHI) India

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UHI India is a consortium of international, national, nongovernmental, and community-based organisations working together to improve the health of the urban economically poor, especially in the state of Uttar Pradesh. UHI is designed to be complementary to national and state health sector plans and goals. The initiative supports the implementation and scale-up of effective evidence-based strategies, as well as the testing of promising innovations. UHI India is part of a 5-year, 4-country initiative supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal, and India. The goal of UHI is to improve maternal and infant survival in urban settings, with an emphasis on strategies to expand access to and use of family planning (FP). UHI supports:

  • Individuals to use services and supplies and practice health behaviours that enable them to achieve their desired family size, maintain good health, and enhance their chances of survival;
  • Providers to deliver evidence-based quality services and supplies that are responsive to client need, choice, safety, and satisfaction; and
  • Programmes and policies to expand access and utilisation of services and supplies associated with improved health.
Communication Strategies

UHI has developed a number of communication strategies in an effort to meet its objectives, such as:

  • Mass media: Developed and implemented by Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHUCCP), the UHI mass media strategy includes TV and radio spots, behavioural films, role model films, and activation in select cities. Mass media is focused on generating demand and is complementary to the communication strategies developed and implemented by other UHI partners working on mid-media interpersonal communication (IPC) at the clinic and community levels. The UHI mass media strategy follows a layered approach for communication. It focuses on stimulating demand by segmenting audiences by FP choices in mass media and sustaining demand by building negotiation skills and addressing method-specific fears and concerns through 8 behavioural films. Positive deviants have been used to trigger change through role model films highlighting real stories of real people who have accepted FP.
  • Client outreach and community mobilisation: The focus of the strategy is on leveraging IPC through a wide range of community-based resources (e.g., peer educators, resource centres, self-help groups, etc.) to increase awareness and drive behaviour change to increase and sustain correct use. Click here to download a variety of IPC tools developed by UHI, such as a counseling flipbook, FP quick reference chart, pregnancy checklist, and other IPC resources.
  • Social marketing: The goal is to increase access to and affordability of quality contraceptive products by leveraging traditional and non-traditional outlets, community volunteers, and private doctors/clinics. Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust (HLFPPT) is responsible for implementing the UHI social marketing strategy in partnership with local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and retailers. HLFPPT products Delux Nirodh and Rakshak condoms and Mala-D pills are being promoted through brand promotion and other activities with the goal of placing these products with current and new traditional and non-traditional retail outlets.
Development Issues

Family Planning

Partners

FHI360, CARE India, JHUCCP, and HLFPPT - with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funding.

Sources

C-Hub and UHI website - both accessed on November 4 2013.