H. E. Syamul Muarif, Indonesian Minister of the State Ministry of Information and Communications, gives the keynote speech at the opening of the National Executive Seminar on Information Technology, held on 1 October 2001 at Jakarta.

Some 200 persons from various ministries and institutions attended the seminar, the theme of which was "E-government for good governance through telecommunications". The event was co-hosted by Indonesia’s National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN), IBM-Indonesia and ESCAP.

In his speech, Mr. Muarif emphasized the importance of the role played by information in bringing about unity of communities. With that in mind, he said, his ministry planned to introduce IT laws and policies in order to promote IT and achieve effective e-government. However, ensuring the availability of an adequate budget as well as human resource development remained the main challenges in implementing the plan, he noted.

Meanwhile, BKKBN had started a national "family survey" project to collect information on every Indonesian family. The project, which is expected to be completed by June 2002, is considered by the ministry to be the starting point for future e-government in Indonesia.

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Scenes from the exhibition organized by BKKBN and IBM-Indonesia for the Seminar

Broader informed choice strategy needed

The need for a new, broader strategy to help people make well-informed choices about family planning and protection against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections is highlighted by a recent report published by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The strategy proposed by the report urges efforts in five areas: government policies; communication programmes; access to contraception; family planning programme leadership and management, and counselling.

The "informed choice" strategy focuses on individuals and couples making their own decisions about the use of family planning based on accurate information and access to services and supplies. The report points out that "while counselling has long been considered a key to ensuring informed choice, what happens before people visit a service provider may be even more important.

For example, in all 50 developing countries surveyed, at least 80 per cent of women who planned to start using family planning in the following 12 months already had a specific method in mind. In 26 of those countries the percentage was over 90 per cent. The report stresses the importance of good communication between clients and providers.

(SOURCE: Johns Hopkins School of Public Health press release, 26 July 2001)

Reproductive health services for adolescents

As a result of high demand, Family Health International has reprinted its Meeting the Needs of Young Clients: a Guide to Providing Reproductive Health Services to Adolescents.

The full text of the 108-page handbook, which was developed to help service providers and health workers strengthen reproductive health care and related services offered to young men and women, is also available online at http://www.fhi.org/en/fp/fpother/adolhand/adolchap1.html

The publication focuses primarily on preventing unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS. It also contains information on counselling young people about reproductive health as well as victims of sexual violence or coercion, and creating youth-friendly programmes and a referral network.

Among the tools it offers are role-playing on abstinence and condom use negotiation, in-depth charts on contraceptive methods for adolescents and a chart on key issues concerning STIs.

Free printed copies are available in English and Spanish to developing country service delivery programmes. A French edition will be published in October 2001. Other orders are priced at US$ 20 per copy. Available from the Publications Coordinator, Family Health International, P.O. Box 13950, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA or e-mail publications@fhi.org

Free access to new Internet POPLINE database

Are you looking for the latest information on adolescent reproductive health and HIV/AIDS? Are you trying to track down an article on population and the environment? Do you need a journal article on female genital mutilation? The answers to such requirements are now just a few mouse-clicks away on the new Internet POPLINE database.

The Johns Hopkins Population Information Programme has announced that POPLINE, which is the world’s largest bibliographic database on population, family planning and related issues, is now available free of charge through the Internet. All 280,000 citations on the website, representing published and unpublished literature, can be accessed using the hyperlink, http://www.popline.org

Internet POPLINE, which is updated every two weeks, provides the only complete and up-to-date Internet location for POPLINE records. (Those records are no longer available through the US National Library of Medicine IGM or PubMed systems.) In addition, the Population Information Program will continue to distribute POPLINE CD-ROMs to selected sites in developing countries on a biannual basis.

The new Internet POPLINE’s current awareness search facility allows users to save time by limiting their searches to the most current entries. It is also planned to offer "relevance" scores to search results, and a "shopping cart" feature for document delivery is being developed.

Internet POPLINE has replaced the POPINFORM database that contained the most recent records added to POPLINE. Combined with the current awareness search facility of Internet POPLINE that allows users to easily limit their searches to a specific time period, this upgrade ensures faster results.

Other new features that are to be added to Internet POPLINE during the second half of this year include:

• Integrated document delivery, which will allow users in developing countries to request delivery of full-length documents via e-mail, fax or regular mail.

• Expanded user support services, which will offer a variety of features that will allow more interaction between POPLINE and its users.

For more details of this service visit http://www.jhuccp.org/popline/popcd.stm  or send an e-mail to popline@jhuccp.org

(SOURCE: Popline Digital Services Update, Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2001)

Launch of UNFPA State of World Population Report delayed

As a result of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York City, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has decided to postpone the launch of the State of World Population 2001 report to Wednesday, 7 November 2001.

The 76-page report, which was to be officially released on 26 September 2001, notes that with the world’s population projected to grow from 6.1 billion in mid-2001 to 9.3 billion by 2050, the social and environmental consequences are likely to be severe.

Starting with an overview, the five subsequent chapters of the report cover environmental trends, development levels and environmental impact, women and the environment, and action for sustainable and equitable development. The report also puts forward four broad priority recommendations for action:

• Implement – and adequately fund – the global consensus agreement of the International Conference on Population and Development

• Provide incentives for the dissemination, further development and use of more sustainable production processes

• Improve the information base for more-sustainable population, development and environment practices

• Implement internationally agreed actions to reduce poverty and promote social development

On its release, the report will be available on the UNFPA website, www.unfpa.org/swp/swpmain.htm

(SOURCE: http://ippfnet.ippf.org/pub/IPPF_News )

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