Yellowknife (Mar 07/03) - A forum tackling three social problems as one issue will be held in Inuvik this month.

A Time to Talk, A Time to Hope will be held March 18-20 and will focus on fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), addictions and trauma.

Francene Ross, health promotions officer at the Community Development Division of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) said the objective is to teach about the three elements as a community problem opposed to an individual problem.

Two delegates from each community in the Sahtu and Beaufort Delta, as well as representatives from Inuit organizations, Health Canada and non-governmental organizations will meet and talk about the three topics an how they relate.

Then they will assemble an action plan for each community.

"Our communities are hurting and what are we going to do about it," Ross said. "I don't know what the outcome will be."

Ross said the IRC will host the event with funding from the territorial and federal governments, but said it's for locals and facilitated by locals.

"We didn't want to bring in a bunch of Americans to tell us something we already know," Ross said.

The forum is not for individual cases, but more on how the community will proceed as a whole, she said.

"Generally speaking, it's about getting a plan together and how we're going to solve community problems with community solutions," she said.

There will be faciltators from the Sahtu, Tsiigehtchic, Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik as well as a psychologist from family counselling attending.

The three-day conference begins with a public meeting held at the conference room at Aurora College.