At the end of the second year of the program, women and people with disability, who are often more marginalised, have greater access to essential services. Progress was made in:

• empowering marginalised people, especially women and people with disability, to identify and demand services that meet their needs
• delivering services to under-served women and men in remote, hard to reach places
• developing the knowledge and skills of decision-makers to help them deliver inclusive and sustainable services
• addressing issues of stigma around disability within communities by challenging harmful cultural attitudes and beliefs
• forging partnerships and collaborating with national governments and local authorities as well as other stakeholders
• learning from each other's work to improve knowledge and practice.

All partners made significant progress on disability inclusion across the three sectors. Through training, developing people's skills and knowledge, raising awareness and other disability inclusive approaches, positive results were achieved in many communities. As a consequence people with disability were more empowered to claim their rights, participate in community activities and access the services they need. While important challenges remain in eliminating barriers to full participation in community activities and accessing services on an equal basis, the progress observed provides a solid base to build on in the coming years.

Drawing on the lessons and challenges of the past year, AACES will continue to implement programs that increase availability of food crops, improve the health of mothers and their children, and increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation. AACES partners will continue to capitalise on the strong partnerships and networks established to achieve greater impact through shared lessons and ideas. They will also continue to work closely with communities and relevant governments as well as civil society groups at district, national and global level, to advocate more effectively for people's rights to access sustainable services.

The AACES mid-term review will be conducted in 2013–14. The review will examine progress and identify any gaps and areas for improvement. Questions that will be considered include what is going well and what progress has been made, what can be done better and what lessons can inform future actions. The conclusions and findings of the review will, together with the lessons from past years, help to determine the focus for the remaining years of the program.