To respond the needs of rural communities, Australian friendship groups are providing technical assistance to help develop the country’s main sectors.
The main areas of focus include education, health, basic infrastructure and agriculture. Groups are also providing capacity building in English language training for young people.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Hernani Coelho said that as a small country, Timor-Leste’s relationships with other countries was very important for development, particularly those between people.
He said the government would continue to strongly support non-political cooperation not only with Australia, but also with other countries.
“We are looking to have a close relationship between people, which we call public diplomacy, so that the cooperation is not only at the highest level, but also at the community level,” he said.
He thanked Australian friendship groups for the ongoing support they provided to rural communities, as the government itself had not yet reached those areas.
He said the government continued to make efforts to coordinate meetings between local authorities in Timor-Leste and other countries in order to strengthen the relationships
Baucau administrator Antonio Agusto Guterres also thanked the Australian groups for their support, adding that he hoped the relationship would be ongoing.
“Baucau municipality has a scholarship [program] for women until [they complete] university and we hope they (friendship groups) keep supporting the education sector,” he said.
“In the future, we want to ask that [the groups] establish a research laboratory so that they (students) can do more in-depth research for their studies.”
In addition, he said Australian friendship groups were also providing support for a reforestation program, had established a training center for youths and were providing capacity building for women, as well as developing community-based tourism initiatives.
However, Australia-Timor-Leste Friendship Network (AusTimorFN) Convener Deraca O’Mahony said groups were not able to provide support to all sectors that requested assistance due to limitations in budget and human resources.
“Friendship groups are implementing different programs, it depends on the groups’ capacity and community needs,” she said.
She said some groups were involved in developing the tourism sector in the Atauro and Ramelau-Hatu-Builiku administrative posts. A dental clinic has also been established in Aileu municipality and many groups continue to provide scholarships for high school students to continue tertiary studies in Timor.
Friendship groups have also developed pre-schools in rural areas and provide teacher training and equipment.
O’Mahony said the decentralization process was progressing too slowly and therefore it was difficult to decide which sectors they would like to work with, however, groups were continuing to implement existing projects in rural areas.
The Australia-Timor-Leste Friendship Network was established in 2000 and acts as an umbrella organization for friendship groups. Its main role is to promote communication between the various groups and the Timor-Leste government, particularly communities where programs are being implemented.
She said there were currently 40 friendship groups registered with AustTimorFN. The majority of programs implemented are in rural areas and administrative posts.
