The forum was sponsored by YouthNet, the INFO Project, and the Implementing Best Practices in Reproductive Health (IBP) Initiative, which is coordinated by the World Health Organization. More than 650 people from 86 countries joined the forum to receive postings. Of those, 87 people from 32 countries (28 of them developing countries) made a total of 129 postings through the month-long forum.
The forum provided state-of-the-art information and an opportunity for connecting global best practices with country-based experiences. It was also designed to help launch the Youth and Adolescents Community of Practice on the IBP Electronic Communication System. Persons who want to participate at this point can get information by sending an e-mail to info@ibpinitiative.org.
Presentations about the forum and a guide to design your own online forum based on this forum are available.
The archive of the forum postings follows, beginning with the welcome and going through every posting in sequence until the final summary. The Forum Summary, the final posting, includes a compilation of all the resources mentioned during the four weeks, with links, as well as evaluation results.
Welcome -- This introductory message provided an overview of the month, with the topics and guest panelists by week.
Week 1 Introduction -- The forum moderator introduced Dr. Ward Cates, the guest panelist for the first week. Dr. Cates provided an introductory statement to frame the discussions for the forum, focusing on the needs of different groups of young people, sexuality education, support from parents and the community, and access to quality services.
Digest No. 1 -- This included a summary by the forum moderator of the concept of a "research to practice" continuum of international public health, a comment by Dr. Cates of the initial postings, and seven postings.
Digest No. 2 -- Dr. Cates provided thoughts on the 11 postings in this digest, which focused on a consistent call for more information about sexuality and reproductive health for youth, issues related to abstinence, involvement of the community, and integrating family planning and HIV/AIDS services.
Digest No. 3 -- Dr. Cates grouped the 15 postings included in this digest into three groups: sources of information, service delivery/providers, and cultural norms/advocacy/leadership.
Digest No. 4/Week 1 Summary -- This concluded Week 1, with 12 new postings and a summary statement from Dr. Cates. He addressed specifically issues raised during the week on abstinence, faith institutions and parents, and school-based sexuality and family life education.
Week 2 Introduction -- The forum moderator introduced Dr. Lynn Collins, guest panelist for week two. Dr. Collins provided an introductory statement to frame this week's emphasis on young women and girls. She pointed out the particular vulnerability of young women and girls, providing background data and information.
Digest No. 5 -- This included a short note from the moderator and four postings, which emphasized the role of adults in promoting responsible sexual and reproductive health behaviors among youth.
Digest No. 6 -- The moderator summarized the eight postings in the digest, and Dr. Collins provided thoughts and resources on questions raised by participants regarding mother-to-child transmission and negotiating safe sex.
Digest No. 7 -- This included a short note from the moderator and three postings, which focus on fostering literacy on sexual and reproductive health among parents and adults.
Digest No. 8/Week 2 Summary -- This digest included six new postings and a summary of Week 2 by Dr. Collins, with links to Web sites and documents that address issues raised by participants.
Week 3 Introduction -- The forum moderator introduced Dr. Jim Shelton, guest panelist for week three. Dr. Shelton provided an introductory statement to frame this week's emphasis on medical barriers to contraception access and use and included a reference chart from the World Health Organization technical guidelines on contraceptive use.
Digest No. 9 -- This included a short note from the moderator and three postings, which discuss transactional sex, parents, and access to services.
Digest No. 10 -- This included a short note from the moderator and seven postings, which focus on access issues faced by youth. Postings also address programs on parents and life skills education.
Digest No. 11 -- This included a note from the moderator on pharmacies and commercial retail outlets, along with seven postings that highlight issues related to youth-friendly services.
Digest No. 12/Week 3 Summary -- This digest included four new postings focusing on access issues and a summary of Week 3 by Dr. Shelton, with some provocative thoughts about condoms and youth.
Digest No. 13 -- The forum moderator introduced the theme for the fourth week, "ABCs of Pregnancy and HIV Prevention among Youth, Country Perspectives and Lessons Learned." The moderator asked selected forum participants to address a series of questions on ABC. This digest includes seven responses to the first question.
Digest No. 14 -- This gave the second ABC question and four responses. In addition, the digest included six regular postings, with one on ABC and the others on access to services, use of condoms and sex education.
Digest No. 15 -- This gave the third ABC question and five responses. In addition, the digest included four regular postings, all related to ABC issues.
Digest No. 16 -- This gave the fourth ABC question and four responses. In addition, the digest included three regular postings, all related to ABC issues.
Digest No. 17/Week Four Summary -- This digest included five new postings focusing on ABC and related issues and a summary of Week 4 by the forum coordinator. The summary included highlights from the comments made by forum participants invited to address the ABC topic.
Forum Evaluation -- This included a brief summary of the goals of the forum with a short 17-question evaluation for participants.
Digest No. 18 -- This final digest of the forum contained four postings addressing various topics.
Forum Summary -- This message summarizes the forum, including the number of participants and messages posted over the month. It includes acknowledgments of those who made the forum possible, instructions for ongoing discussions on the IBP Electronic System, a summary of the evaluation results, and a summary of the Web resources mentioned during the forum (by week) for easy access.
