Member of National Parliament Ilda Maria da Conceicao asked the Secretary of State for the Promotion of Equality not to just choose internally when the established commission picks the Gender Award recipient in November this year.
According to her the Gender Awards were good as they gave recognition to people who contribute to the promotion of equality across the country.
“For me I am very pleased but there should be an exact criteria and the applicants should really show dedication in the specific area,” said MP da Conceicao in National Parliament.
She added the assessment team could also do an assessment based on the set criteria, so the award was really given to a person who deserved the appreciation, not because they knew someone.
In response to this issue, Head of the Connection Department within SEPI, Henrique da Silva, said they opened the vacancy with a clear criteria for applicants who wanted to apply and they also established an assessment commission to assess applicants’ documents based on the set criteria.
She said the five criteria for applicants to be considered included that the applicant be a Timorese citizen, be aged 17 years old or above, submit their Curriculum Vitae and have knowledge of gender equality.
“We want to give our appreciation to them, especially for people who work hard to contribute to the promotion of equality,” da Silva said.
She added the Gender Award program this year was different to the program five years ago, because several years ago they just gave appreciation to the ministry and secretaries of state who showed good progress implementing policies on gender equality.
Based on the plan, the award will be handed out on November 8 this year for celebrations for National Women’s Day on November 3.
