Although not often considered in the past by planners because their economic contributions are not performed for money, rural women are contributors to the development of their countries. The urgency of reaching women with important information to break the cycle of poverty is now being recognized by the major development agencies. While there are many physical and cultural barriers to the education of rural women, the case studies described in the report illustrate ways of approaching these problems. The use of paraprofessionals and audio cassette technology is combined in several patterns in nations including Mexico, Guatemala, Columbia, the Philippines, India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Iran, Sudan, Tanzania, and the United States to reach and communicate with rural women and their families about such subjects as health, nutrition, family planning, and agriculture. Program format varies from serial dramas, stories, music, talks, interviews, and short announcements, all with the intent of encouraging listening, learning, and action. Key elements of the program strategy are dramatization, authority, reinforcement, localization, entertainment, questions, brevity, semi-sequential flow, and repetition. The examples cited are primarily simple systems that should be affordable by governments anywhere which take seriously the welfare of their poorer rural population and provide opportunities for rural people themselves to have a role in community improvement programs. (NEC)