PIP: In December 1991, the UN Development Program (UNDP) organized the African Informal Consultation on Behavior Change as it relates to the HIV pandemic. Community-based organization and government representatives attended from Australia, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Malawi, Malaysia, Norway, Senegal, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, the United Kingdom, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Participants strongly endorsed the possibility for individuals and communities to change their attitudes and behaviors in response to HIV and AIDS, and stressed the importance of evaluating and documenting these changes and sharing lessons learned. The group concluded that research in the field of HIV should be action-oriented and participatory; new research methods and ways of presenting data are called for. Participants in the 2nd consultation held in the Asia/Pacific region in November 1992 also stressed the importance of developing community-based monitoring, evaluation, and program development methodologies. The UNDP responded by launching a number of initiatives in Africa, Asia and Central America to explore ways in which communities may be helped to document ongoing changes, assess their impact and efficacy, and share them with others. New approaches to evaluation are also being explored based upon processes of assessment and redesign already occurring in the communities.