Background
The Network for Women and Popular Education of the Latin American Council on Adult Education (CEAAL—Consejo de Educacion de Adultos de America Latina), an affiliate of the International Council for Adult Education, promotes the development of adult education in Latin America, through the exchange of experiences among national affiliates of the council as well as through the development of programs in such areas as participatory research, indigenous communities, labor education, peace and human rights, literacy, communications, popular theater, organizational development at the local level, and cooperative education.
Work on women's issues dates from the founding of CEAAL's Network for Women and Popular Education in 1982. Accomplishments since that time include—
- The development of a network of individuals and nongovernmental organizations in the countries of the Latin American region.
- Organization of three region-wide seminars, two in Pozo de Rosas, Mirando, Venezuela and a third in Montevideo, Uruguay.
- Four subregional conferences on developing a systematic approach to popular education for women, in Brazil; the Andes; the Southern Cone; and Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.
- National conferences on different topics concerning women and popular education in fourteen different countries of the region.
- A workshop on feminism and popular education in Latin America.
In addition, the CEAAL women's network has shared its viewpoint in various regional and international forums, including:
- Conference of the International Council for Adult Education (Paris, France, 1982).
- Second Latin American Feminist Conference (Lima, Peru, 1983).
- Conference on Women and Research/Action (Santiago, Chile 1983).
- Latin American Conference on Participatory Research (Sao Paulo, Brazil).
- Nongovernmental Forum for the end of the UN Women's Decade (Nairobi, Kenya, 1985).
- World Assembly for Adult Education on "Development and Peace" (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1985).
- Latin American Assembly on "Popular Education, Society, and Alternative Development" (Montevideo, Uruguay, 1986).
- Regional conference of private agencies working on women's issues, convened by UNICEF (Bogota, Colombia, 1986).
- World Congress of Women, "Forward to the Year 2000 Without Nuclear Arms/Peace, Equality, Development," convened by the Women's International Democratic Federation (Moscow, USSR, 1987).
Why a Women's Network?
CEAAL's women's network was created to support the grassroots women's movement because:
- By sharing and comparing our experiences, we have come to understand that we are part of a larger movement that transcends national boundaries and is moving us toward the construction of a truly Latin America-wide popular education movement.
- By linking us together in solidarity, the women's network forms a base from which we can propose joint projects and actions, in order to unite our hopes and strengths as we work toward equality and peace.
- The women's network serves as a toolkit for sharing information and experiences, launching new initiatives, and developing opportunities for discussion and joint efforts.
- The women's network offers a space for reflection and action that allows us to rework the methodology and techniques of popular education from a feminist perspective.
How Does the Network Function?
In order to facilitate communication and coordination, when we organized the network we decided to have one coordinating body for Latin America and a contact for each subregion: Central America and the Caribbean; the Andes; Brazil; and the Southern Cone.
Each joint activity we undertake is coordinated by one of these officers. At our annual conferences, we decide collectively what actions, programs, and projects we will undertake. Our joint efforts are realized through such means as conferences, workshops, seminars, and interchanges at the national, regional, and subregional level.
What Does the Women's Network Do?
To meet the challenges posed by the popular education of women in Latin America today, we have set the following priorities:
- Developing a systematic methodology.
- Participatory research.
- Communication and outreach.
- Interchanges.
Each of these avenues brings us closer to the elaboration of basic approaches to adult education for women in our region.