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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Priorities for Local AIDS Control Efforts (PLACE): A Manual for Implementing the PLACE Method

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This manual outlines in detail how to carry out a method called Priorities for Local AIDS Control Efforts (PLACE), which is a "rapid assessment tool to monitor and improve AIDS prevention program coverage in areas where HIV transmission is most likely to occur." It is designed to provide strategic information to prevention programmes based on the unique features and contexts of local HIV transmission networks. The process involves identifying gaps in current prevention programmes, enhancing the local use of these findings to improve programme delivery, and monitoring programme coverage over time. PLACE is designed for implementation within a short period of time without extensive involvement of outside technical experts. It can be implemented using a spreadsheet programme, a word-processing programme, and Epi Info, a statistical software programme developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The method includes local participatory feedback and dissemination workshops to ensure that results are used to tailor local interventions. As of early 2005, PLACE had been implemented in more than 60 priority prevention areas in 15 countries.

 

The manual features extensive discussion of how to carry out each of the 5 steps in the PLACE procedure, which - in brief - include:

  1. A national PLACE steering committee identifies priority prevention areas (PPAs), decides where PLACE will be implemented, makes protocol decisions, obtains ethical approval, and plans implementation.
  2. Trained interviewers ask approximately 400 community members to name venues (such as hotels, hostels, parks, and bars) and events where people meet new sexual partners and where injecting drug users (IDUs) socialise.
  3. Trained interviewers visit all venues identified in Step 2 and characterise each in terms of the type of venue, the type and number of people who visit the venue (including youth, IDUs, men who have sex with men (MSM), sex workers, and clients), the existence of any current HIV/AIDS prevention programmes at the venue, and the feasibility of future on-site prevention efforts. Global positioning system (GPS) technology is used here to map venues.
  4. A representative sample of patrons is interviewed regarding their sociodemographic characteristics, their sexual and injecting drug use behaviours, and their exposure to HIV prevention programmes, including HIV testing and condom promotion.
  5. Local stakeholders review the findings and develop action plans in participatory workshops.

 

Also included in the manual are an interviewer guide, various forms (e.g., questionnaires), PowerPoint presentations, a list of resources, and details about a CD-ROM with electronic version of documents and forms.

For more information, contact: MEASURE Evaluation University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill CB# 8120 University Square East Chapel Hill NC 27516-3997 United States Tel: 919 966 7482 Fax: 919 966 2391measure@unc.edu

Publishers

Number of Pages

279

Source

MEASURE Evaluation Monitor, July 2008.

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Click here to access the manual in PDF format.