SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency) is organizing an on-line forum on the current situation and future prospects of adult learning and basic education in developing countries. It will be moderated and conducted in English and Spanish. It will run for five weeks.
The study "Lifelong Learning: A New Momentum and a New Opportunity for Adult Learning and Basic Education in Developing Countries", commissioned by SIDA and done by Rosa-María Torres, will serve as a base document for this on-line discussion. The document  (English and Spanish versions) will be posted  at the forum web site.
The forum is open for anyone to join in. Special efforts are being made to encourage the participation of people from developing countries, in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

From the background information of the organizer:

ORGANIZATION: SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency)
BACKGROUND DOCUMENT: "Lifelong Learning: A new momentum and a new opportunity for adult basic learning and education in developing countries" (by Rosa-María Torres, 2002, 55 pages)
LANGUAGES: English and Spanish (messages in Portuguese and French are also accepted)
DURATION OF THE FORUM: May 23-June 23 (five weeks)
FORUM WEB SITE: http://www.bellanet.org/adultlearning
MODERATOR: Rosa-María Torres, Instituto Fronesis, Buenos Aires
SUBSCRIBE: send a blank message to join-adultlearning@lyris.bellanet.org
POST MESSAGES: send message to adultlearning@lyris.bellanet.org
UNSUBSCRIBE: send a blank message to leave-adultlearning@lyris.bellanet.org


TIMEFRAME  We propose to divide the forum into two main parts:
(a) Current situation and trends (23 May - 9 June):
* What is going on in developing countries vis a vis adult basic learning and education? (policies, programmes, and actual practices; role of governments, civil society organizations, and international organizations)
b) The future (10-23 June):
* Where do we want to go in terms of Learning for All (learning and basic education for all - children, youth and adults with unmet basic learning needs), and what is required to get there?

Within this broad timeframe, we will be raising issues and posing questions to focus and animate our dialogue. While it is necessary to provide some structure to such dialogue, we want to make sure there is lots of room for flexibility and for adapting to the unpredictable and evolving dynamics of the discussion.  Balancing structure and flexibility is difficult, and is something that must be worked on along the way.

We are starting Week ONE ( 23 - 31 May).
While we wait for people to subscribe to the forum and to read the background document, we propose  two questions for discussion during this first week:

QUESTION 1: Why is this on-line forum on adult learning and basic education in developing countries important? (If you think it is not important, you may also contribute your point of view)

QUESTION 2: Why is it important that people from developing countries actively participate in this discussion?

Both questions will remain open throughout the five weeks of the forum.

When you send your messages, please write down on the Subject line whether you are referring to Question 1, Question 2, or Questions 1 & 2 together.