Their mission is to promote adult learning as an important tool for informed participation in civil society and sustainable development.
In 1972, the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE) was established by J. Roby Kidd, with headquarters in Toronto, Ontario.
The first World Assembly on Adult Education and Development occurred in Dar es Salaam in 1976, four years after ICAE was established.
The first was in 1976 in Dar es Salaam; others have been held in Buenos Aires (1985), Bangkok (1990), Cairo (1995), Ocho Rios (2001), and Nairobi (2007).
J. Roby Kidd was a Canadian adult educator and Secretary General of ICAE (1973–1979); this award recognizes innovators in the field.