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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Stand Up Planet

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"[W]e followed the jokes into the lives of the joke tellers - fearless members of an exploding global comedy underground who are raising their voices, making people laugh and making people think. There's nothing inherently funny about hunger, poverty and disease. But there's something powerfully life-affirming about laughing in the face of hardship." - David Munro, Director

Premiering on May 14 2014, "Stand Up Planet" is a documentary TV show, transmedia series, and digital campaign that showcases life in parts of India and South Africa through the lens and experiences of stand-up comedians. Using an unexpected lens of comedy in the developing world, the key premise of the show follows stand-up comics Aditi Mittal from Mumbai, India, Mpho Popps from Johannesburg, South Africa, and Hasan Minhaj from California (CA), United States (US) and follows their satire into social and global poverty issues such as sanitation, child survival, and HIV/AIDS - learning along the way from people working to address these challenges every day. The informal tagline of the project: "You can tell a lot about people from the jokes they tell." It aims to engage citizens in the US to advocate for awareness and overseas aid: "In both places, positive change is happening - and you can play a part. Your voice and your support can connect directly to provide more vaccines for children, access to clean water and sanitation, and HIV prevention and medication."

Communication Strategies

Comedy is the approach used here to connect people and mobilise them to act.

Part 1, hosted by Hasan Minhaj, a Indian-American comic, is "part-travelogue and part-reality show, bringing audiences to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Mumbai, India, to tap into the socially-conscious comedy scene, learn about fearless young comics talking about issues - like HIV, sanitation and hunger - and using it in their stand-up routines." On their journey back to the US, they meet comedians Bill Cosby and Carl Reiner and producer Norman Lear as they prepare to perform at an international stand-up comedy show at the Laugh Factory (in Los Angeles, CA). Part 2 is a 1-hour comedy special featuring Hasan, Mpho Popps, Aditi Mittal, Nate Bargatze, Michelle Buteau, and James Adomian at the Laugh Factory. These episodes can be viewed in the US on Pivot, Link TV (nationwide), and KCET (Los Angeles, CA), as well as on NDTV Prime in India. Local air times can be found here. It is also possible to watch online (starting May 15 2014 in the US): here.

The Stand Up Planet website also features tools such as: downloadable, sharable infographics; interactive maps of Stand Up Planet's journey through South Africa and Stand Up Planet's journey through India; and action ideas that are designed to bring audiences deeper into the issues covered in the episodes. It also shares strategies underlying the initiative, such as this page, with video and other resources that challenges readers: "What in the world does an 'HIV joke' sound like? You wouldn't think there would be much to laugh about, and yet, with adversity comes humor. But the jokes on this page from South African comics are about more than getting laughs - each is a blow breaking down the wall of silence and stigma surrounding HIV." An example: "You Want to Do WHAT with My Penis?.

For more information:

Development Issues

HIV/AIDS, Children, Poverty, Sanitation.

Key Points

Looking toward the deadline (2015) of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), organisers note: "The good news? Incredible progress has been made. The bad news? There's so much more to do. And whether you live in Mumbai or Johannesburg or Los Angeles, our lives are more intertwined than ever."

Partners

Stand Up Planet is funded by a grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and produced by independent broadcaster KCETLink Media in association with Kontent Films.

Sources

Emails from Caty Borum Chattoo to The Communication Initiative on April 14 2014 and May 12 2014; Stand Up Planet website, May 13 2014; and email from Bijan Rezvani to The Communication Initiative on October 17 2014.