The British government says it is acting to try to reduce a terrible rise in the number of people committing suicide in Northern Ireland.
Last year 213 people - many in their teens and 20s - took their lives, a rise of more than 60 on the previous year.
In an average year around 150 suicides are recorded in Northern Ireland, just over 40 per cent by young men under the age of 35.
Health Minister Paul Goggins today announced the establishment of the Suicide Strategy Implementation Body which will drive forward and oversee the implementation of a Suicide Prevention Strategy which has been drawn up for the province.
The body will be chaired by Colm Donaghy, who also chaired the taskforce which drew up the strategy.
The minister, speaking on World Suicide Prevention Day, said: "Suicide is a terrible tragedy, which affects many in our society."
He said Suicide Prevention Day offered a chance to reflect on what role everyone could play in attempting to reduce the levels of self-harm and suicide in the local community.
Mr Goggins said: "We are establishing a number of initiatives; a new telephone help-line, new projects which bring together the vulnerable people who are at risk of suicide with people who can help them."
There would also be a whole range of community initiatives to provide effective support for vulnerable people, he said.
"We are also making sure the health professionals, particularly the GPs, are better equipped and skilled to deal with the kind of vulnerable people who come to them at risk of suicide," said the minister.
In addition to representatives from relevant statutory and professional bodies , the new implementation body will include substantial representation from families bereaved by suicide, as well as members of communities most affected and appropriate voluntary bodies.
"The inclusion of people with direct experience is essential if we are to see a successful implementation of the Strategy," said Mr Goggins.
The body would have his full support in implementing all the recommendations in the Suicide Prevention Strategy, he said, looking forward to working with the group "so we can begin to impact on the high levels of suicide in Northern Ireland."
Welcoming the establishment of the implementation body, Ann McGarrigle, chair of the Families Forum, said implementation was critical and needed to be carried out effectively.
"The Families Forum is unique in these islands and it gives families a voice in implementing the Suicide Prevention Strategy. The families are very much looking forward, with hope, to moving forward and working in partnership with government, voluntary organisations and communities to ensure the strategy is implemented effectively at local and regional levels across Northern Ireland," she said.
Ms McGarrigle said she hoped the strategy would reduce the number of other families having to experience the loss of a family member to suicide.
"Suicide within families changes lives forever and it is vital that we work together, at all levels, to make effective change," she added.