Social Norms
Social norms action with informed and engaged societies
Social Norms
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 lainiciativadecomunicacion.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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PlusNews

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PlusNews is the global online HIV and AIDS news service of the United Nations Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN). Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, PlusNews produces original HIV/AIDS reports that it disseminates through a website that provides the latest news, as well as country profiles and first-person testimonies from those living positively with the virus.

PlusNews aims to promote dialogue and foster knowledge, awareness, and advocacy among decision-makers, the media, and those affected by the epidemic. According to organisers, coverage is accessible, comprehensible, and - where possible - jargon-free.

Additionally, the service strives to:
  • Improve the flow of accurate and accessible coverage of HIV and AIDS at international, national, and community levels.
  • Encourage the sharing of ideas, research, and best practice.
  • Highlight programmatic responses to HIV and AIDS.
  • Focus on responses from governments, civil society, and international organisations.
  • Demystify and de-stigmatise HIV and AIDS by providing accurate and original news and information from a diversity of sources.
Communication Strategies

PlusNews distributes its material for free via email and internet. Visitors to the PlusNews website may access reports focusing on the humanitarian, political, economic, cultural, and regional contexts of the HIV/AIDS crisis. A weekly electronic newsletter includes summaries of the articles produced during the previous week, together with a digest of upcoming conferences, a synopsis of selected research, and job vacancies.

Connecting people working on this issue is part of the PlusNews strategy. The service's country profiles include contact details for relevant government departments and national programmes, active non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and organisations of people living in almost 60 countries worldwide. These profiles also include country-level socioeconomic indicators, epidemiological data, and treatment figures.

PlusNews publishes information in four languages - Arabic, English, French, and Portuguese.

Development Issues

HIV/AIDS.

Key Points

In a survey of subscribers in June 2006, 83% ranked PlusNews as "excellent and indispensable", or "good and very useful", and 80% said PlusNews provided information "not available from other agencies or news services".

Sources

Emails from Laura Lopez Gonzalez to The Communication Initiative on May 23 2008, July 14 2008, and September 18 2009; and PlusNews website.

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