Globalism Institute Activities in Timor-Leste

Our research is interested in the transition to nationhood in Timor-Leste, from the transition as a Portuguese colony to an Indonesian-occupied territory, and through to the independent republic that Timor-Leste is today. In particular, our interest is focused on the intersecting themes of gender, justice and security, nation building and community (see Research Themes) in the independence era. Below is a list of some of our main activities.

. After the Violence?
. Vota ba Futuru: the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections 2007
. Mapping the Pursuit of Gender Equality - project report now available
. Community Security and Sustainability - first project report now available
. Policy Options for Oecusse - project report now available
. Gender and the Crisis
. Working with RMIT English Worldwide
. Student Program
. Challenges and Possibilities - new project report available
. The Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR)
. Pathways to Reconciliation and Human Rights: Sarajevo 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the Violence?

After the Violence? Truth, Reconciliation and National Integration in Timor-Leste
An Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grant

Timeframe: 2007-2008.
Chief Investigator: Dr Damian Grenfell.

With the closure of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR) and the dissemination of its findings across 2006, this project will examine the impact of CAVR on national integration. By focusing particularly on how CAVR sought to find 'the truth' regarding political violence that had occurred between 1974 and 1999, as well as to secure the reintegration of past human-rights offenders back into society, the central role of the Commission in underpinning the transition to a new nation will be considered. The project will produce a detailed understanding of whether the cycles of violence have been genuinely broken in Timor-Leste in relation to that period and how organizations such as CAVR contribute to building a durable peace in post-conflict societies.

Back to Top

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vota ba Futuru

Vota ba Futuru: the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections 2007

Timeframe: 2007.
Research Team: Dr Damian Grenfell, Mayra Walsh and Kym Holthouse.
Funding: The Globalism Institute, RMIT University.

The Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Timor-Leste in 2007 provided an opportunity for research into the voter intentions of East Timorese. The aim of this project was not to find out who was voting for which party, nor was it a test of citizen knowledge. Rather, the research undertaken was an attempt to understand how citizenship might be concieved of in Timor-Leste; how do people make political decisions, how do they access information about different parties and the political process more generally, and in what respects do people see the process of democratic elections as positive.

This research project started with survey-based interviews being conducted with a cross-section of the population in Dili over the days just prior to the second Presidential vote. This method of short survey-based interviews was augmented by a limited set of in-depth semi-structured interviews. The same process of undertaking both survey-based and semi-structured interviews was repeated just prior to the Parliamentary vote, with the research location shifting to Venilale in the Baucau district.

It is hoped that while a small study Vota ba Futuru will allow for a more critical debate regarding the nature of East Timorese democracy.

Back to Top

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mapping the Pursuit of Gender Equality

Mapping the Pursuit of Gender Equality: Non-Government and International Agency Activity in Timor-Leste

Timeframe: October 2006 - July 2007.
Research Team: Anna Trembath and Dr Damian Grenfell.
Organizational Partners: The Office for the Promotion of Equality, Prime Minister's Office, Timor-Leste and Irish Aid Timor-Leste.
Funding: Irish Aid and the Globalism and Global Cities Institutes, RMIT University.

See here for the final project report in English and Tetun (August 2007).

Completed in August 2007, this project delivers a comprehensive picture of how NGO and agency sectors in Timor-Leste approach gender-focused activity. The final public report (published in both English and Tetun) systemically brings together information about the various NGOs and agencies working in the area of gender, their approaches and their projects. In addition, an analysis is made about major trajectories of gender work in Timor-Leste. It is hoped that this bilingual report (which includes a directory of organizational contacts) is an important resources for interested organizations and individuals within Timor-Leste and beyond.

In addition, the Globalism Institute researchers will provide the Office for the Promotion of Equality with an internal advisory report, which will provide an informative basis upon which to strategise about future government-civil society collaborations.

See the East Timorese and international organizational pages for individual organizational gender profiles.

Back to Top

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Community Security and Sustainability

Community Security and Sustainability

August 2008: Launch of the English version of 'Community Sustainability and Security in Timor-Leste: Sarelari and Nanu', authored by the Globalism Research Centre's Damian Grenfell, Mayra Walsh, Carmenesa Moniz Noronha, Kym Holthouse and Anna Trembath, and produced in association with Oxfam Australia and Concern Worldwide in Timor-Leste.

See here a PDF version of the report and its cover, and see here for details of the launch.

Research Sites: Dili District, Venilale Sub-District, Lolotoe Sub-District, Fatumean Sub-District, Luro Sub-District, Oecusse District.
Timeframe: commencing in July 2007, ongoing.
Research Team: Dr Damian Grenfell, Mayra Walsh, Kym Holthouse and Carmenesa Moniz Noronha.
Organizational Partners: Oxfam Australia in Timor-Leste (Fatumean Sub-District) and Concern Worldwide in Timor-Leste (Luro Sub-District).
Funding: Support from the Australian Research Council and RMIT University's Global Cities Institute, Oxfam Australia and Concern Worldwide.

Human Security and Community Sustainability are two of the major research themes of RMIT University's Global Cities Institute. In Timor-Leste these two thematic areas have been brought together by drawing on the respective expertise and experiences of communities, NGO staff and university-based academics. As a result, over 2006 and 2007 this project will build a comprehensive study of six knua- or aldeia-sized communities (ie small villages) in Timor-Leste across the themes of Community Security (broadly drawing from a doctrine of human security, thus threats not just posed by violence but also by social and natural processes) and Community Sustainability (income generation, food production, access to services, natural resource management as well as changing nature of community, including identity, knowledge, language, tradition, sense of belonging and place).

Dili is of particular interest for various reasons, not least as the political, economic and organizational centre of Timor-Leste and the centre for the 2006 crisis. However, there is little point in trying to understand the city on its own terms and in isolation, and as such this study takes five other varied sites from across Timor-Leste as part of a larger process of comparative examination. These sites, namely Venilale in Baucau, Fatumean in Covalima, Barikafa in Lautem, Lolotoe in Bobonaro and Passabe in Oecusse, will provide a sense of how local communities are able to either sustainably hold together or alternatively suffer ongoing conflict, and at the same time help to understand what has in fact occurred in Dili over 2006 and 2007. In simple terms, the study will build a sense of the degree of community well-being in each site, how this may compare to the other sites and why there may be differences between sites.

Methods being used as part of this research program include various individual and household surveys, semi-structured interviews, photo-narrative, and temporal and spatial mapping techniques drawing on GPS units to map the different kinds of movements of people within communities. Program staff work across various languages, including Tetun, Bahasa Indonesia and local languages.

Back to Top

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Policy Options for Oecusse

Research Project into Impacts of Economic Development and Border Policy Options for Oecusse, Timor-Leste, Stage One: Terms of Reference for Stage Two of Study, for Oxfam Australia, Timor-Leste

Please see here for full report (January 2008).

Timeframe: June 2007.
Research Team: Kym Holthouse and Damian Grenfell
Consultancy for: Oxfam Australia, Timor-Leste

This study was commissioned by Oxfam Australia as the first stage of a two-part research project. The project brief for this stage (Stage One) was to provide a scoping study of socio-economic issues related to economic and border policy options in the enclave of Oecusse, Timor-Leste and to develop a suitable Terms of Reference (ToR) for a more in-depth future study.

In a three-week timeframe, researchers from the Globalism Institute, RMIT University undertook investigative work in both Oecusse and Dili. They spoke with a wide variety of people from a range of organizations so as to ascertain and document the dominant discourses about the material conditions, prospects and aspirations that shape the day-to-day lives and opportunities of those living in the enclave. The researchers also sourced and examined documents that are often difficult to access but that bear upon and provide context for the major discourses present in current-day Oecusse.

This report presented a preliminary picture of the complexities and challenges faced by the Oecusse community and those organizations working to provide it with support, recognizing both the history of the Timor-Leste nation generally and the specific and unique characteristics of Oecusse district. As part of this scoping study, four major areas of discourse circulating with regard to Oecusse have been delineated: governance and autonomy; Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and foreign investment; agriculture and forestry; and border issues and solutions. The report also outlined a series of recommendations that provide clear options into further research about to what extent future economic development may align with the needs and interests of Oecusse communities.

Back to Top

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gender and the Crisis

Gender and the Crisis

Timeframe: 2006-2007.
Research Team: Dr Damian Grenfell and Anna Trembath.
Organizational Collaboration: Participation from a wide range of community organizations, NGOs and international agencies working in the area of gender in Timor-Leste.
Funding: Global Cities Institute, RMIT University.

Globalism Institute staff are working to understand the gendered effects of the socio-political crisis across 2006 and 2007. Much of this research has thus far focused upon exploring the gender-differented effects of the violence and insecurity on women, whether it be experiences in internally displaced persons' (IDP) camps, communities that have suffered recurring violence, or the disruption to services such as health and education. The project is also considering the ways in which women have been presented in essential terms as 'peace-makers'. Yet to be fully considered is the relationship between masculinity and the crisis, though it is hoped that over the coming period relations will be made that will allow such research to be advanced.

Back to Top

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Student Program

Student Program, Globalism Institute, RMIT University

Timeframe: ongoing.

The Globalism Institute offers supervision to students wishing to undertake honours and post-graduate research about Timor-Leste, particularly in regard to the themes of gender, nation-building, justice and security and community, or identity more generally. Prospective students are encouraged to contact Dr Damian Grenfell (damian.grenfell@rmit.edu.au) about supervision options.

Students at an undergraduate level are offered opportunities to learn about Timor-Leste and be involved in the Globalism Institute's community engagement activities, for example through guest lectures, internships and conference organization.

In 2007 the Globalism Institute and the School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning offered two Honours travel scholarships, designed so as to allow Honours students an opportunity incorporate international field research in Timor-Leste as part of their research program. In June-July 2007, Jessica Korteman and Melissa Cockroft joined the team of five Globalism Institute researchers in Timor-Leste. Jessica's research tied into the Vota ba Futuru project and Melissa linked in with the Gender and the Crisis and Mapping the Pursuit of Gender Equality projects.

Timor-Leste-oriented research students who are receiving supervision and scholarship support from the Globalism Institute are studying diverse topics including:

. Gender and Nation-Formation (Anna Trembath, PhD candidate)
. Histories of the Resistance Movement (Zelda Grimshaw, PhD candidate)
. Gang Activity in Timor-Leste (James Scambary, Masters candidate)
. Traditional Governance Systems (Mayra Walsh, Honours candidate)
. The Construction of Masculinities and Violence (Ruth Streicher, Honours candidate)
. Gender and Peacebuilding Following the 2006 Crisis (Melissa Cockcroft, Honours completed 2007)
. Electoral Decision-making in the 2007 Parliamentary Elections (Jessica Korteman, Honours completed 2007).


Back to Top

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Working with RMIT English Worldwide

Working with RMIT English Worldwide

Timeframe: 2005-ongoing.

In 2005 the Globalism Institute helped to secure a short-term scholarship for Mario de Araujo, who works with Oxfam Australia and is based in Dili, to undertake a 5-week intensive language program at RMIT English Worldwide (REW). After the success of this exercise, the Globalism Institute and REW established a program partnership to facilitate similar opportunities for three East Timorese women in 2007. Given the extent of challenges still facing women in Timor-Leste, not only does this program allow participants to increase their English skills but it also provides an opportunity for travel, cultural exchange and personal growth. Participants' financial and logistical needs are supported by organizations and individuals in Timor-Leste and Australia.

In January 2007, Alita Verdial, Martinha Afonso Pires and Joana Belo da Costa participated in REW's highly-regarded English program (please click here for a recent RMIT news story about Alita, Martinha and Joana). In 2008 and 2009 two women from Timor-Leste will come to RMIT to participate in similar English training and cultural exchange programs.

Back to Top

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Challenges and Possibilities

Challenges and Possibilities: International Organizations and Women in Timor-Leste
International Forum
9-11 September 2005, Storey Hall, RMIT University, Melbourne

Report (2nd Edition, December 2007) available in English and Tetun.

As a participative, multilingual forum, Challenges and Possibilities: International Organizations and Women in Timor-Leste drew upon the experiences and ideas of participants, including East Timorese women and representatives of international organisations, in order to explore three key issues:
    1. The practices and assumptions of international organisations working with East Timorese women;
    2. How East Timorese women have responded; and
    3. How the international presence has impacted on women in Timor-Leste.
Participants from East Timor represented various NGOs, agencies, state bodies and community organisations. These included the Alola Foundation, AMKV (the Association of Men Against Violence), the Asia-Pacific Support Collective Timor-Leste, the Australia-East Timor Community Water Supply and Sanitation Project (CWSSP), Caritas Australia, Concern Worldwide, the East Timor NGO Forum, Fokupers, Friends of Baucau Buka Hatene Centre, the Judicial System Monitoring Programme (JSMP), KOVEFOKTIL (tais weaving cooperative), the Office for the Promotion of Equality, Oxfam Australia and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Participants from Australia included members of civil society organisations, East Timorese diaspora organisations, aid and development agencies and local government, as well as activists, academics, students and interested members of the public.

Back to Top

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CAVR

The Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste (CAVR)

Timeframe: 2004-2005

Across 2004 and 2005, members of the Globalism Institute worked with the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR), providing editorial and research advice with regard to the Commission's final report.

On 14 November 2006 the Globalism Institute with the support of the Jesuit Mission, the Mary Mackillop Institute East Timor and the University of Melbourne Human Rights Forum hosted the Melbourne launch of Chega, CAVR's public report. See here for further details.

Back to Top

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pathways to Reconciliation and Global Human Rights

Pathways to Reconciliation and Global Human Rights: Sarajevo 2005
An International Conference in Bosnia Herzegovina
16-19 August 2005

With the support of the British Embassy in Dili, former CAVR National Commissioner Isabel Guterres was able to attend the Pathways to Reconciliation and Global Human Rights Conference in Sarajevo. The conference was organised by the Globalism Institute and supported by the United Nations Development Fund.

To hear Isabel Guterres' keynote address click here.

Back to Top

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In addition, the Globalism Institute has organised many public events in relation to Timor-Leste. Please see Events for details of future and past forums, seminars and conferences. Globalism Institute publications relating to Timor-Leste are listed on each of the resource pages attached to the themes of Gender, Justice and Security, Nation Building and Community.

 



Globalism Institute ©Copyright 2006