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ActionAid Australia Formerly Austcare Launches WorldFirstInitiative...

ActionAid Australia, formerly Austcare, is currently in the process of launching the new brand and has taken a unique approach to open its work up to the Australian public. The organisation will drop Stilgherrian, an independent political blogger and writer for Crikey.com into a remote area of the United Republic of Tanzania.

ActionAid has charged Stilgherrian to set up a live video outpost in the remote region, training the local community to use it, thus enabling their voice to be heard and broadcast across the Internet.

Using the power of social media for political change ActionAid Australia will raise the bar on much needed awareness on the reality of life for the poor and marginalised in developing countries, as well as directly question corporate social responsibility policies, bringing the public into the heart of the debate.

Archie Law, CEO, ActionAid Australia said, We know from research that for the public to engage with social causes, they need to see outcomes from their dollar donations, not just the devastation. This activity demonstrates both in the most visible way.

Law continues: We know that engaging with social media is an important part of communicating with our supporters, that'ss why we'sve chosen to launch in this way. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that any anti-poverty agency around the world has established blog outposts in this way. Using social media sites such as Twitter as well as engaging with bloggers also gives us a great way of reaching out to the Australian public in a more direct way.

In typical social media style, Stilgherrian announced the ambitious project on his personal blog: http://stilgherrian.com/toto/project-toto-the-secretmission-has-begun

Stilgherrian has only been outside of Australia once, on a holiday to Thailand. In Australia he is known as a vocal and often irreverent political commentator, however we are aware we will need to mentor and support him, as he will face things many people never see in a lifetime. We hope this opens up the conversation on the issues of social negligence, and our social responsibilities regardless of where we live in the world.

Over the coming weeks, a number of other initiatives will be revealed as part of this program. There will be numerous cultural and technology issues to address, both from Silgherrians's reporting and the set up of the technology left in the field. The social activity will invite open discourse with ActionAid Australia as to solving those issues, getting them on the political agenda right through to enabling the unheard voice from the ground to live broadcast and be heard web-wide.

Commenting further, Archie Law said, We hope that Stilgherrian'ss inaugural journey will be successful to generate the interest and engagement with what our organisation does and consequently paves the way for us to send other Australian bloggers into other countries to set up a community of blog outreach posts around the world, for the silenced voice to be heard and the social activist to be released.

Editors Notes:

Further information and executive interviews, photographic and rich media content

Please contact:

Fi Bendall

+61 2 9948 0007

+61 (0) 431 032 426

Twitter: FiBendall

Skype: FiBendall

About ActionAid Australia:

Austcare (http://www.austcare.org.au) is re-branding as ActionAid Australia, formalising their affiliation with ActionAid International the anti-poverty agency working in over 40 countries, enabling disadvantaged people to end poverty and injustice together.

The agency relentlessly faces the challenges to improve people'ss lives daily by releasing them from the poverty trap using a rights based approach, to create a better chance of ending poverty for good.

Together with more than 2,000 civil society partners worldwide, ActionAid work with and support the poorest and most vulnerable people to fight for and gain their rights to food, shelter, work, basic healthcare and a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.

About The Political Blogger - Stilgherrian

Stilgherrian is an opinionated and irreverent writer, broadcaster and consultant, one of Australia'ss most prolific and (according to NEWS.com.au) interesting users of the social messaging service Twitter.

An Internet user and digital native since the mid-1980s, his professional focus is on how new social networking and communication technologies are changing the way we work, play, socialise and organise our societies -- especially in the realms of media and politics.

Stilgherrian'ss early life was shaped by a stark contrast: growing up poor on a dairy farm south of Adelaide but, thanks to a scholarship, attending an elite private school in the city. That experience sharply focussed my understanding of hypocrisy and the arbitrary nature of power and status, he says.

After studying computing science and linguistics at the University of Adelaide, Stilgherrian became a broadcaster, first with community radio and then as a producer and presenter with ABC Radio. He built a loyal cult following in Adelaide'ss dance music, techno and hip-hop scenes in the early 1990s as presenter of the Triple J program Club Escape and publisher of The CORE magazine before becoming station manager at community broadcaster Three D Radio.

He also served on the boards of the AIDS Council of SA and the Community Broadcasting Association of SA.

Stilgherrian moved to Sydney in 1995 and survived life in the chaotic start-ups of the first dot-com boom.

Since then he'ss split his time between the media and being a geek for hire. He writes about the intersection of technology and politics for Crikey.com.au, newmatilda.com his own website and others, and has also consulted for Telstra and IBM Asia-Pacific on what we now call podcasts.

Stilgherrian isn'st afraid to call a spade a spade. His style is mercurial, quick-wittedly flipping between playful and provocative He'ss sometimes offensive, often insightful, and always entertaining.

About the Project Strategist 's38; Implementer - Fi Bendall:

Fi is a leading interactive and digital specialist, and managing director of Bendalls Group (http://www.bendalls.com.au),

Fi has over 20 years experience in the digital sector. As well as developing key strategies for the BBC, she has worked on an international gaming industry portal, ATE Online, and on digital strategies for Australian clients such as Microsoft, News Interactive, Amnesty International Australia, WaterAid Australia, Earth Hour, Tourism Tasmania, RaboPlus and MTV.

Fi has built a reputation for being hyper connected and acting as a nexus between disparate people/communities and uses this ability to bring business and social media influencers together.

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