Dear Friends,

        "Women in Action " is a good description of the 13,000 women from all over the world who gathered at the NGO Forum in Nairobi last July -- and this issue of Women in Action concentrates on what women were doing there. So much happened at the Forum that it is impossible for us to give a complete picture. We would just like to share our impressions and our experiences of some of the workshops, especially those that we organised and participated in.

         Seven of us from the Isis International team went to Nairobi: Ana Maria, Amparo and Maria Teresa from our Santiago office and Maria Eugenia, Marilee, Ximena and Wai-Fong from the Rome office. Many Isis International Associates and contacts were also there. We participated in many workshops and organised several ourselves: a workshop on the Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network, a series of workshops on using audiovisual resources and three full days of workshops on "Women, Development, Empowerment and Solidarity, " organised together with the International Coalition for Development Action (ICDA), the Nationwide Women's Program of the American Friends Service Committee and Gabriela, a coalition of some 80 women's groups in the Philippines. About thirty representatives of women's groups from every part of the world also helped in organising these workshops so that they truly represented a united effort.

         Many other interesting and exciting workshops and events took place in Nairobi and in the following pages we try to give some idea of a few of these. The NGO Forum was an excellent opportunity for networking, for meeting old and new friends and contacts and for strengthening links among ourselves. In contrast to the NGO meetings held during the Women's Decade in Copenhagen and Mexico, there was a much larger presence and input of Third World women in Nairobi and a much greater willingness among women from all parts of the world not only to listen and appreciate both commonalities and differences, but to find ways to work together. A great many women and groups came away from Nairobi with concrete plans and strategies. Many more with a firm basis to continue to keep in contact and work out ways of linking together.

        Many, many women did not go to Nairobi. The meeting in Kenya was important but it was by no means the only event in the women's movement this past year. We also share news and information about other things that are happening. Although we can only fit a few of them into these pages, they give an idea of the vitality of the women's movement around the world.

The Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network, coordinated by Isis International, is flourishing. Women's groups from the region are continuing to join. The first three issues of the Network Bulletin, published every two months, have appeared. It is being published in Spanish only, at least for the time being. More news is found in the networking section.

        The United Nations Decade for Women is over. It has provided opportunities for many groups to organise, study, carry out projects and meet together. We have always known, however, that with or without a "Women's Decade, " women all over the world have been, are, and will continue to organise, mobilize and take action.

Women in Isis International