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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Radio Soap Opera on Disaster Reduction - Central America

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In recent years, disasters such as Hurricane Mitch and the El Salvador earthquakes have shown that a large part of the Central American population, particularly in rural areas, remains ignorant of disaster prevention, preparedness, and response measures. Reducing the incidence and impact of disasters in Central America requires that the population improve its knowledge of disaster reduction and replace passive and sometimes destructive behavior with active and constructive approaches. One activity which aims to communicate this knowledge will be the production and broadcasting of a radio soap opera about risk management in Central American countries.
Communication Strategies

The show will consist of 20 episodes of 24 minutes each, which will be broadcast consecutively before and during the heavy rainfall and hurricane season-July to December.The story will take place in a rural farming environment. The experiences of the characters will be used to instruct listeners on the measures they can take to prevent or reduce the impact of floods, earthquakes and other emergencies. The dialogue will focus on everyday issues close to listeners' own experiences and will be full of humor. Other audio resources to secure the attention of the audience will include the ambient sounds they know so well, and music they can relate to.
Development Issues

Disaster relief, economic development.
Key Points

Many public service messages are produced with an eye to their transmission in cyberspace, via the internet or the World Wide Web. In the Central American region, studies by communication experts have shown that a significant number of people do not even access to television sets, much less computers. In many cases, they cannot read. This makes radio the most effective mass medium for widespread attitudinal change. Among the various types of radio programmes, soap operas are the ones with the highest ratings. Moreover, because radio serials produce a strong sense of affective identification among listeners, they can produce real changes in behavior.
They hope to produce this radio soap opera in South America and in the Caribbean (in english) if funding allows.
Partners



The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR).