The Global Initiative on Primary Prevention of Substance Abuse (Global Initiative) is jointly executed by the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Implementation began in June 1997. The Global Initiative aims to prevent the use and abuse of all licit and illicit psychoactive substances by young people. The project is implemented in selected communities in eight countries in three regions of the world where rapid/dramatic social change is in progress. The regions are Southern Africa, South-East Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. Prevention activities of the project are based on the mobilization of local communities. The project comprises five sets of interrelated activities: (1) a baseline assessment, (2) training of local partners, (3) public health interventions, (4) monitoring of activities including information sharing, and (5) post-intervention assessment. Through these activities, local partners facilitate the mobilization of their communities towards preventing substance use and abuse. The results of the evaluation of the intervention activities will shade light on effective responses for use in other communities that also wish to address the problem of substance use among young people. This report summarizes the key results of the first phase of the project (baseline assessment) in Thailand, the Philippines and Viet Nam, in 2001 and proposes the key interventions to be adopted by the sites. The summary is derived from country reports.