Timor-Leste

Ireland Aid requested ISSAT support for a workshop for civil society actors in Timor Leste focusing on how to utilise legal texts as part of SSR dialogue processes and research activities.  

This was part of a larger project supported by Ireland Aid which included the translation of 20 key Timorese security sector laws into Tetun. The translated text was to enable access to and understanding of security sector legislation by a broader segment of the population, thus strengthening strong democratic dialogue around security sector development.  

In order to maximize the benefits of the translation, Ireland Aid was working with a local NGO "Fundasaun Mahein" to conduct a training for civil society actors on using security sector legislation. ISSAT was requested to provide support through the provision of one advisor to the process with SSR experience and a good knowledge of Timor Leste. 

ISSAT was requested to support UNDP, who were co-chairing the OECD INCAF Secretariat’s project to develop operational advice on how challenges in respect of ownership, programme management, monitoring, and results definition could be better addressed in security and justice engagements by using a “process approach”. Such advice needs to show senior international decision makers how “domestic” imperatives (political and organizational) can be combined with the requirements for effective engagement in long and uncertain transformational security and justice change processes.

As part of this project ISSAT was requested to review UNDP’s Justice programme and UNMIT’s SSR Programme in Timor-Leste to look at concrete options to improve security and justice programming.

This is part of a larger project supported by Irish Aid which includes the translation of 20 key Timorese security sector laws into Tetun the lingua franca of Timor-Leste. The translated text will enable access to and understanding of security sector legislation by a broader segment of the population, thus enabling a strong democratic dialogue around security sector development.   

In order to maximize the benefits of the translation, Irish Aid is working with a local NGO Fundasaun Mahein to conduct training for civil society actors on using security sector legislation. ISSAT was requested to provide support through the provision of one advisor to the process with SSR experience and a good knowledge of Timor Leste.

The Norwegian and Irish governments requested ISSAT’s support in the organisation of a Security Sector Reform training for civil society organisations in Timor Leste. In collaboration with a local partner -Fundasaun Mahein - ISSAT conducted a three-day training programme in Dili, Timor Leste in late September. The training brought together civil society representatives from Timor Leste and the broader South-East Asian region.

Overall objectives of the training programme included:

• Increased SSR capacity for civil society organisations;
• Dialogue and discussion among various civil society actors;
• Greater understanding on the purpose, goal, processes and principles of SSR.

The target audience for the training were Timorese civil society organisations and personnel with direct and indirect involvement in security sector development.