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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Impact Data - Promotion of Youth Responsibility Project

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Date
Methodologies
This survey used a set of baseline and follow-up surveys, each involving approximately 1,400 women and men aged 10-24. They were conducted in five campaign areas and two control areas. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess exposure to the campaign and its impact on young people's reproductive health knowledge and discussion, safer sexual behaviours, and use of services.
Knowledge Shifts
Youth knowledge of modern contraceptive methods (except the implant) increased significantly after the campaign (2 to 4 times more likely to know about these methods than before the campaign). In particular, knowledge about the female condom increased considerably due to a separate initiative which ran concurrently with this programme. General reproductive health knowledge remained at a low level after the campaign, mostly due to misconceptions about family planning methods.
Practices
After the campaign, young people were more likely to abstain from sex, which may have indicated positive intentions. Young women were more likely to report having said no to sex. The campaign encouraged groups that are historically less likely to seek services to visit health centres; members of these groups include males, single people, and those who lack sexual experience. Among respondents, 29% of women, 28% of men, 27% of sexually inexperienced youth, and 31% of sexually experienced youths visited a health centre. Of those, 27% of single and 41% of married people visited a health centre. Also, 67% of those who had sex within the past 6 months after the campaign reported using a modern contraceptive method, compared to 56% before the campaign. Girls who attended launch events were 36 times more likely (p<.001) to avoid "sugar daddies". The number of participants who stuck to one partner was also substantially higher (20.4%) than those who did not (2%).
Attitudes
About 4 of 5 of youth interviewed still believed that the male should decide whether to have sex, although it was felt that some young women may have come to believe they had the right and responsibility to refuse unwanted sex. The widespread campaign served to increase interest in the idea of family planning and the topic was brought into the light; however, changing deep-seated gender stereotypes is a process that will take time.
Increased Discussion of Development Issues
It was felt that the campaign was successful in generating discussion on a wide variety of topics, including sexual issues, HIV/AIDS, and physical growth and maturity. Eighty percent of youth in campaign areas said they had talked with someone about reproductive health issues. Those who attended launch events were also 2.7 times more likely to have had discussions with friends.
Access
Overall, 97% of respondents were exposed to the campaign. Posters and launch day events reached the largest proportion of young people (92% and 87%, respectively), followed by leaflets (70%) and dramas (46%). The hotline reached the smallest share of the audience being addressed (7%) due to limited telephone access in rural areas. Radio is widely available in Zimbabwe: 94% of urban and 87% of rural young people surveyed had access to a working radio. Nationwide, 41% of youth living in urban areas had heard the radio programmme and 5% reported calling the show to discuss problems. Students (aged 16 and under) were much more likely to have seen a poster, read a pamphlet, watched a youth drama, read Straight Talk, or talked to a peer educator. Sixty-one percent of respondents exposed to the campaign saw or heard at least 3 campaign components.
Source
"Promoting Sexual Responsibility Among Young People in Zimbabwe", by Young Mi Kim, Adrienne Kols, Ronika Nyakauru, Caroline Marangwanda, and Peter Chibatamoto, International Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 27, No. 1, March 2001.