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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HIV Transmission and Prevention in Adolescents

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Author

  • Doug Kirby
This material is part of the HIV InSite Knowledge Base Chapter which is a comprehensive, on-line textbook of HIV disease from the University of California San Francisco and San Francisco General Hospital. The chapter on Adolescents and HIV transmission and prevention is specifically directed towards the USA population.

From the introduction... "Many adolescents engage in sexual intercourse with multiple partners and without condoms. Thus, they engage in sexual behaviors that place them at risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV. Among sexually experienced people, adolescents aged 15 to 19 years have some of the highest reported rates of STDs. In addition, particular groups of adolescents (eg, males who have sex with males, injection drug users, and teens who have sex for drugs) engage in even greater risk-taking behavior. Consequently, an estimated 25% of all people with HIV in the United States contracted HIV when they were teenagers. Accordingly, professionals concerned with adolescents have developed school and community programs to reduce adolescent sexual risk-taking behavior. Some of these programs have been effective at changing behavior, while others have not."

Topics covered include:
  • Introduction
  • Adolescent Sexual Risk-Taking Behavior
  • Use of Condoms
  • Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Conclusions About Adolescent Risk and Implications for Programs
  • Sex, STD, and HIV Education Programs
    - Impact of Education Programs
    - Abstinence Programs
    - Sex and HIV Education Programs
  • Characteristics of Effective Curricula
  • School Condom-Availability Programs
  • One-on-One Educational and Counseling Programs in Health and Family Planning Clinics
  • Comprehensive Community HIV Education Programs
  • Sex and HIV/AIDS Education Programs for Parents and Their Families

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