Nearly 360 million women who live in the countries of Asia and the Pacific are illiterate. In this region, and in much of the world, women have restricted access to education, and are the victims of economic, social, and political marginalization. In recent years, governments have become increasingly aware that the inferior position assigned to women jeopardizes not only women's future status in society but the future of society as well. For UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), the status of women, their full participation in development, and women's access to education, science, and culture are issues of first priority. In 1986, four countries in the Asia Pacific region (Australia, Bangladesh, China, and Indonesia) were invited to conduct a study of existing materials on civic awareness. This report presents the knowledge and experience shared and gained from the studies of the four countries that participated in a workshop in 1987. At the workshop, the participants discussed their respective studies, scrutinized and synthesized their experiences to form a regional overview, and suggested some considerations for crucial aspects of materials development: contents selection, linguistic elements and illustrations, design and layout, among others. The 20 examples of selected materials from Australia, Bangladesh, China, and Indonesia cover a wide range of topics, including: citizens' rights and responsibilities, health and nutrition, family planning, employment and work related issues, women's integrity and self-worth, women's organizations, conservation of the environment, and scientific outlook. The book is organized into three chapters. Chapter 1 consists of a regional overview derived from synthesizing each country's analysis. The second chapter presents considerations on crucial aspects of developing reading materials to raise civic awareness among women with limited reading skills. A summary of each country's analysis is presented in chapter 3. (DB)