An electronic venue for discussion and intensified debate on poverty reduction issues. This Internet discussion will influence the meeting in Manila on February 5 to 9, 2001.

The Internet Forum will also be directly discussed at this meeting. The Internet Forum is designed to improve our understanding of poverty and other development issues, and enable a broad section of the development community to take part in this dialogue.

Through a series of Internet-based exchanges concerning policy and institutional reform, the Forum seeks to foster knowledge sharing, drawing upon the experience of development practitioners who address poverty at the international, regional, national, and local levels. It also seeks to bring together researchers and practitioners, enabling each group to benefit from the insights of the other.

• Transparency. It is open to anyone interested in the subject and willing to abide by the Discussion ground rules
  
  
• Time-Bounded Focus. In most cases, discussions are focused on a particular topic and have a limited duration
  
  
• Accessibility. The Discussion is easily available and can be accessed through the World Wide Web , and electronic mail. This accessibility encourages individuals with limited internet access to participate and update their knowledge of the subjects
  
  
• Moderated Interaction. This is a moderated Discussion in which a moderator reviews posted messages, and places them in the relevant theme area. The moderator also insures that the Discussion stays focused on poverty issues to be addressed in the forum, and reduces redundant comments so that the Discussion is succinct.