During the year, AACES partners informed and educated the Australian public about development issues facing Africa and how AACES is addressing them through a range of activities.

Photography exhibition and panel discussion

To celebrate World Food Day, ActionAid partnered with AFAP to host Exposing Hunger: Capturing Solutions, a one-week community event incorporating a photo competition, gallery exhibition and panel discussion in Sydney. A photo competition, which formed the core of outreach activities, was publicised online in July 2012 and submissions were made directly to the website. The website then became a portal to explore multiple dimensions of food insecurity. Visitors were given the opportunity to vote for their favourite photo-story.

The winner's photographs were displayed in an exhibition formally launched on World Food Day (16 October 2012). Following the exhibition, a food panel discussion was held on the ways in which local cooperatives can assist to address the global food crisis. The Lord Mayor of Sydney launched the exhibition and Tracey Spicer (ActionAid Australia Ambassador and prominent journalist) convened the food panel. More than 200 people attended the events throughout the week.

Engaging the community on maternal health

Anglican Overseas Aid targeted health sector professionals, students and members of the general public accessing maternal health services to raise awareness about maternal health around Mother's Day and International Day of the Midwife. The initiative featured a 'safe motherhood' photography exhibition, which was displayed at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne and the World Health Organizaton Collaborating Centre for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Development at the University of Technology in Sydney. It is estimated that up to 2250 people saw the exhibition, which featured photographs from nomadic pastoralist communities in Kenya and Ethiopia accompanied by descriptions of development activities implemented by Anglican Overseas Aid.

Public events and speaking opportunities

A core AACES case study involving Caritas' work was presented to 29 teachers at the Australian Geography Teachers' Conference during the food and water security workshop in Perth in January 2013. An article featuring Caritas' experiences through AACES was published in GeoDate (a journal for geography teachers), subscribed to by 250 schools. An article written by Caritas' partner CADECOM for World Hunger Day was also included in the publication.

World Vision used the 'One Just World' platform in March 2013 to highlight the AACES program. During the Melbourne forum, The recipe for eradicating poverty: is there a missing ingredient?, World Vision discussed the importance of maternal and child health issues. World Vision also held a stall at the forum where it distributed information about maternal and child health to more than 500 people.

Marie Stopes International, in collaboration with CARE, the Burnet Institute, International Women's Development Agency and Plan International, organised an Australian sister event to the 2012 London family planning summit. The event was co-hosted by Marie Claire magazine and the Australian Government in Sydney and was attended by 84 people. A dinner was also organised in December 2012 for the Executive General of the United Nations Population Fund while he was in Australia for the launch of the State of the World Population 2012 report.

The Go Bare Initiative

CARE and Marie Stopes International partnered to develop Go Bare day. The initiative asked Australians to go bare without make-up for one day (14 September 2012) to raise awareness of women and girls living in poverty in Africa. The idea is that going without something they considered an everyday necessity or 'basic' reminded them of the fact that many women and girls in Africa lack access to the basic essentials in life such as family planning and food security.

The Go Bare initiative aimed to introduce development awareness to a target audience who are not currently engaged with the sector. In the lead up to Go Bare day, a mix of online and print paid media, social media and online channels were used to promote the inaugural day and build support. All media coverage directed traffic to the Go Bare website, where Australians could register to Go Bare and learn more about the Bare initiative and the AACES projects being undertaken by CARE and Marie Stopes International. The initiative also had the support of two celebrity ambassadors, Dr Joanna McMillan and Sarah Wilson.

Through the mixed media channels the Go Bare initiative achieved a total audience reach of 537,826. It will continue over the life of AACES, with an increasing focus on digital and social media and public relations.

Global poverty: teacher's toolkit

CARE included AACES-specific information in its schools' outreach resource Global Poverty: Teacher's Toolkit. This program reaches more than 10,000 Australians every year and features human interest stories from AACES programs alongside other information about development programs in Africa. The toolkit is available online and in hard copy.

Giant toilet tour

WaterAid contributed to a deepened understanding of water, sanitation and hygiene issues in Africa through the giant toilet tour. A giant toilet travelled through towns and university campuses across Australia to promote global sanitation issues. As part of the tour, WaterAid held school presentations which incorporated photos, case studies and stories. It is estimated that the toilet tour reached more than 1000 university students.

School visits

AFAP hosted a presentation for 115 students in years 5 and 6 at Summer Hill, New South Wales. AFAP visited the participating classrooms to talk about food security in Zimbabwe and Australia, distributing worksheets for students to complete. Students reported that the presentation was informative and engaging, and that they learned a lot about the difficulties of getting enough food in Africa.

The internet and social media

AACES partners used websites, social media and blogging to engage Australian and international audiences.

Anglican Overseas Aid enhanced its 'The Road Less Travelled' blog with regular content from different voices across the partnership. During the year, numerous blog entries were posted covering a range of themes and issues that are being addressed by the project. ATwitter account was also set up and proved useful in drawing people to the blog. Tweets raising awareness of the project encouraged discussions around maternal, newborn and child health, and facilitated networking with national and international organisations working on maternal, newborn and child health initiatives.

CARE has a dedicated AACES program area on its website, and publishes blogs on the AACES program, including human interest stories and major program highlights such as the AACES Annual Report 2011–12.