When programming family planning interventions, why re-invent the wheel? It’s frustrating when efforts overlap and resources are wasted. Learning from the success and failures of others is critical to progress; however, it can be difficult with so many programs and no mechanism to track where and what High Impact Practices (HIPs) in family planning are being implemented worldwide. What if a program in Ghana is interested in expanding a community health worker intervention and wants some tips for implementation from other countries nearby? Where would program staff go to find that information?

Now, with the support of the Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project, Implementing Best Practices (IBP) Initiative, and others, USAID has developed an online interactive map showing who, what, when, where, and how HIPs are being implemented in the field. This map will allow users—like our colleagues in Ghana—to quickly see what type of programs are being implemented (or have been implemented) in their region. The map will facilitate South-to-South learning and exchanges.

In recent years, online discussion forums have gained importance in sharing public health information among policy makers and practitioners in both developed and developing countries. Since 2005, the World Health Organization Department of Reproductive Health and Research (WHO/RHR) and the Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project have supported more than 50 virtual discussion forums on the Implementing Best Practices Knowledge Gateway (IBP KG).