Overview It is especially important for the AOB to continually inform the general public of its competences and activities. In addition to broader publicity work last year, particularly the AOB‘s TV show “Bürgeranwalt” (“Advocate for the People”) aired on public television has had a wide-ranging effect for more than ten years, making it an important platform for the AOB‘s concerns. Around 304,000 households watch the AOB‘s commitment to finding solutions for the population’s problems with the authorities each week. New publication for children and adolescents In the reporting year, the AOB also focused on informing children and adolescents of their rights as citizens and on encouraging them to claim these rights. The publication “Junge Menschen und ihre Rechte” (“Young People and Their Rights”) by Ombudswoman Brinek, released in November 2013, helped with this project. Last but not least, the AOB‘s website is another important source of information. Upto-date notifications and numerous service offers, including the online complaint form, make this website highly attractive for a growing number of users. The complaint form was downloaded 1,200 times in 2013 and the website accessed around 100,000 times. 2.3.5 Events AOB open to dialogue Each year, the AOB organizes numerous events. These are aimed at varied target groups and demonstrate the AOB’s willingness to engage in an open dialogue with pupils and student groups, specialists in Austria and abroad as well as representatives of authorities, ministries and other organisations. In addition, the AOB took up many invitations from external event organisers. Three targets were especially important during 2013: (1) involvement of civil society, (2) networking with national and international organisations and associations pursuing similar targets as the AOB, (3) informing the general public of the AOB’s activities and sensitising the general public to human and citizen rights. The examples shown below aim to be a guide to the broad range of events. Involvement of NGOs On 8 April 2013, the members of the AOB held a so-called „NGO Forum“. Around 70 participants from across Austria took the opportunity to find out more about the AOB‘s work to date as National Preventive Mechanism and to swap experiences with the AOB, the members of the Human Rights Advisory Council and the expert commissions. Silvia Casale, former Chairperson of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and advisor to the European NPM project, attended this event as an international representative. In her presentation, she provided an external view as to Austria’s performance in implementing the UN Human Rights Conventions compared to other countries. The NGO Forum also enabled the AOB to start intense discussions with NGOs, which also engage in the protection of human rights but are not represented on the Human Rights Advisory Council. Their involvement is instrumental in the effectiveness of the AOB‘s work because their wide-ranging 20