The Deputy Minister spent two days in Timor-Leste where she was received by a number of Government representatives. The visit was the first on political level since Mr. Solheim, Minister of Environment and Development Cooperation, met with the Government of Timor-Leste in Dili in 2008 and at that time signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on continued development cooperation.
Ms. Fiskaa met with the Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance among others to discuss the continuation of Norwegian support to Timor-Leste including the upcoming 4th High Level Forum and Aid Effectiveness to be held in Busan, South Korea at the end of this month. The Minister of Finance, Ms. Emilia Pires, is also invited by Norad to address its annual Conference on “Aid and Conflict” which will take place in Oslo on 12th December 2011.
The Deputy Minister’s program included a visit to the Youth Centre Bairo Pite close to Dili. This training Centre is one of five centres supported by Norway and built by the Norwegian Refugee Council. The ownership of the centres will be transferred to the Government of East Timor in 2012, but in a transition period the centres will be managed by Care International. Ms. Fiskaa also met with bilateral and multilateral donors, UN organisations, the Anti Corruption Commission and project staff of the Energy and Petroleum project under the bi-lateral development programme between Timor-Leste and Norway.
A Seminar addressing the role of witness of victims in the case of domestic violence was held in Dili In connection with the Deputy Minister’s visit. It was arranged by Fokupers, Judicial System Monitoring Programme (JSMP), and the Norwegian Embassy. The Seminar was jointly opened by Ms. Fiskaa and the Secretary of State for Promotion and Equality, Ms. Idelta Maria Rodrigues. The seminar was very well attended and addressed several pertinent and fundamental gender equality challenges facing Timor-Leste that will require long term concerted political and awareness building efforts to be resolved.
The Norwegian delegation continued to Jakarta, and on 18th November the Deputy Minister attended the signing of the agreement between Norway and UNDP aimed to support Access to Justice in Indonesia. She also delivered an inspiring speech at a National Seminar on Women Political Participation hosted by the Asia Foundation and the Norwegian Embassy in Jakarta.