The task force has requested financial resources, a lengthened term (from two years to four) in which to report and the appointment of representatives from the Caribbean, Arab states and Latin America. As a representative of CCLOW, which has been active on this task force, I urged the assembly and the ICAE executive to take a leadership role by implementing policy changes that would introduce gender parity in the decision-making levels.

POPULAR EDUCATION AT WORK
It is not surprising, given the theme of popular education at this assembly that a real life popular uprising emerged at this gathering. With the help of the Women's Program of the ICAE, and several Thai women's organizations, an evening program concerning the sex-tourism industry opened up a space for women participants to take action. The evening began with a video portraying the economic exploitation and violence that Thai women suffer as a result of sex-tourism. It is a difficult problem to combat because tourism plays a major role in Thailand's economic development. However, many Thai women are doing amazing work, intervening on multiple levels, and trying to develop alternatives to the sex-tourist industry. Of course, this problem is not unique to Thailand. It is worldwide and a reflection of the colonization of women.

Many women were moved to take action within the assembly when we learned that an upcoming international meeting-the Education for all conference- was to be held in an area well known for its sex-tourism activity. At issue was a multi-million dollar conference complex being developed for this meeting, and the increasing numbers of girls and women who would be brought into the area to service the sex-tourists this complex would attract. Why not build a vocational centre? The hotel-conference complex, we argued, would remain behind long after the conference was over and would only contribute to the sex-tourism industry of Thailand. The conference planners had been confronted with this issue but had dismissed it as trivial.

Over the next few days we debated what our actions should be. What role should we play as visitors? Were we imposing our Western feminist perspective on Thailand? If we took action, would there be negative consequences that would hamper the future of Thai womens' groups? We all agreed that we had a responsibility to act as members of a global network, and that any action would take place in full consultation with our Thai sisters. It was clear to women at this meeting that the international community has a responsibility to live up to its rhetoric of democracy, equality and justice.

We argued before the assembly that resources mobilized for international meetings should work to facilitate people's emancipation, not further their exploitation. We then organized a study tour of the area designated for the conference. It was obvious that the main economic activities were sex shows and brothels.

At the same time we made efforts to raise awareness at the assembly. We adopted an "each one teach five" strategy, whereby each one of us approached five other participants about the issue. Another strategy involved placing slogans, such as "Is prostitution an issue for the ICAE?", on dining room tables, bulletin boards, and our name tags in order to stimulate further discussion. After much debate, among ourselves and with the ICAE executive, we read a statement to the general assembly, which is reprinted following this article. We received the unanimous support of the assembly, and the executive agreed to relay the statement and our concerns to the planners of the Education for All conference.

IN CLOSING
One of my fondest memories is of the evening "cultural event" where over one hundred men and women spontaneously flooded onto the stage, joining our Indian sisters in their song about women's struggles in their country. It didn't matter that we did not know the language. It was a universal song of solidarity which had everyone on their feet. It is vital that as we work locally and nationally that we maintain a vision of women throughout the globe and that we nurture our international links.