The International Council for Adult Education (ICAE) was founded in 1973 to strengthen the work of nongovernmental organizations and adult educators in advancing adult education throughout the world. In 1995, the ICAE engaged in a strategic planning process that resulted in the formation of the Gender Education Office (GEO). The GEO was charged with the responsibility of developing a set of core indicators to measure governments' political will in relation to implementing programs to improve the adult educational opportunities available to women and outcomes achieved by women in adult education programs. Those indicators were used to study the situation of women in Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The separate studies conducted in each country revealed a number of challenges faced by women throughout Africa, including the following: continuing underdevelopment; high rates of illiteracy; lack of access to education and training; increasing inequality because of religious and cultural traditions and a global rise in fundamentalism; and lack of women in leadership to articulate women's interests. Strategies recommended for improving the situation of African women included broadening the scope of adult education to adult learning and linking local, regional, and global strategies to improve women's access to adult education. (Contains 10 tables.) (MN)