AACES places a major emphasis on learning and sharing knowledge to strengthen the implementation of the program and to inform the Australian Government's policy for greater economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa. In 2012–13, program partners continued to share experiences and lessons through technical working groups, reflection meetings, workshops, field visits and various other forums. Partnerships have been instrumental in fostering a culture of learning in AACES.

Informing Australian Government policy and programs

The focus is on the exchange of information and learning between initiatives delivered as part of the Australian Government's aid program and NGOs activities, particularly on how to target and provide sustainable services for marginalised people. The Australian Government and NGOs engaged with each other to share lessons on a range of topics including:

• fiscal decentralisation in Kenya
• decentralisation and sectoral budgeting for WASH in southern Africa
• community participation in mining governance
• delivering health services to remote and nomadic populations.

Reflection meetings

The annual reflection meeting is the primary knowledge-sharing event for AACES. The meeting brings staff with responsibility for AACES in Australia and Africa together to reflect on the implementation of the program, and discuss and learn in a cooperative, non-competitive environment. The meeting is highly interactive and participatory with content shaped by participants' contributions. The second meeting took place in June 2013 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and was attended by more than 60 participants. The participation of Australian Government sector specialists strengthened synergies between program activities and Australia's broader objectives in the region.

Several NGOs also organised learning workshops that brought together staff from different countries. These workshops helped to enrich country strategies through learning from other teams on approaches to reach marginalised groups.

Peer learning activities

Peer learning activities undertaken during the year helped partners to discover and share best practices. For example, several NGOs were able to identify what was working well and areas for improvement as a result of peer review of their AACES monitoring and evaluation frameworks. Following the exercise, AFAP adapted WaterAid's tools for measuring progress on advocacy. WaterAid revised its AACES monitoring and evaluation framework after peer review of Marie by Stopes International and CARE in Tanzania.

Other ways of sharing experiences included the development of an internal communication and learning platform. NGOs have been using the AACES Yammer¹⁷ platform to share resources and communicate lessons more widely. Several learning groups have been formed covering AACES priority sectors and cross-cutting topics. The maternal and child health group on the Yammer platform has more than 40 members who regularly post and share resources.

Field visits

Field visits provided another good opportunity for learning and sharing knowledge. AACES partners who visited AFAP's project sites in Mutoko district, Zimbabwe, learnt about the construction of disability-friendly water points and rainwater harvesting, while participants visiting WaterAid project sites in Singida, Nzega and Iramba districts in Tanzania observed a participatory sanitation and hygiene marketing approach.
AACES partners also visited World Vision project sites in Tanzania. Participants were able to gain insight into the work and role of community health volunteers and how important they are to the health system and promoting better health for families at household level.

'It was an opportunity for us to reflect on our own practice and gain input from participants. For instance, we were encouraged to think about how we could report back to communities on findings and results from project activities,' said Margy Dowling, Program Advisor, World Vision Australia.

17. Yammer is an enterprise social network used for private communication within organisations.