I thank Ms Sarah McCann for coming before the joint committee to discuss Trócaire's activities in Timor-Leste. As she will be aware, the committee is finalising its report on Timor-Leste and welcomes the relevant and important contribution Trócaire is making in the region. It is proposed that this will be the committee's final meeting to take evidence from invited witnesses on this issue. I expect to circulate a draft report to members within the next few weeks and to conclude the report in January. I invite Ms McCann to make her presentation.
Overseas Development Aid: Presentation.
Ms Sarah McCann
Trócaire welcomes this opportunity to feed into the discussions and recommendations, particularly as Development Cooperation Ireland, DCI, begins to develop its new strategy for Timor-Leste. I thank the Chairman and the committee for inviting Trócaire to contribute.
I circulated a presentation, a briefer copy than that in front of me, to members but I will not go through everything in detail. If there are any questions when I conclude, members should feel free to pose them. I geared my presentation towards recommendations for DCI rather than on Trócaire's work at present. I would, however, be happy to elaborate on the latter, if required.
The independence of Timor-Leste in 2002 continues to be a matter for celebration but, as with many post-independence countries, there are considerable challenges remaining for that country. Timor-Leste is still one of the poorest countries in Asia, ranking 140th in the human development report for 2004 and still manifesting very low levels of development. For example, the adult literacy rate is 58%, while only 33% of the population have access to sanitation. Life expectancy is still 55.5 years, which is extremely low.
Following independence in 2002, the level of funding has declined compared with the huge influx post the 1999 referendum from official donors and NGOs. The level of international interest in Timor-Leste has also declined in more recent years, as other crises have emerged worldwide. Our overall recommendation to the Government and DCI, its development arm, is that it is important to make a long-term commitment to Timor-Leste because the country needs sustained support.
My submission makes two broad and five specific recommendations. The two broad recommendations relate to aligning long-term and sustained support to the Timor-Leste Government's national development plan, while the five specific recommendations relate to public sector capacity building, decentralisation, gender equality, support for civil society and human rights and lessons learned.
Trocaire's experience is that, once the immediate post-crisis period of a year or two comes to an end, support to a country tends to decline. We have witnessed this in many countries, particularly Afghanistan, in recent years as official donors and NGOs withdraw and move on to deal with the next crisis. When the tsunami struck last December, significant support and personnel were drawn away from Timor-Leste. It is incredibly important that DCI commits to long-term support for the country and expresses this commitment clearly in its new strategic plan, with a timeframe, if possible. In its 2003 to 2005 strategy paper it stated Timor-Leste "is and will continue to be in a state of transition for some years to come". It recognised that decades of systematic underdevelopment needed to be addressed in the long term and that sustained international assistance would be vital. We commend the Government for expressing this in its previous strategy. It should reiterate it in the new plan.
The other broad recommendation is that the framework for DCI support should be based on the government's national development plan because this aligns the Government's support with the vision of the Timor-Leste Government. In other countries aid has generated a significant administrative burden for new governments. Particularly as it is a new country development co-operation in Timor-Leste should continue to be flexible, co-ordinated among various donors and delivered in a way that minimises pressure on the country's newly emerging administration. The feedback from our partners on the ground in Timor-Leste is that DCI's programme is viewed favourably because of its flexibility and long-term commitment.
The first of our five specific recommendations which we regard as essential to the future of Timor-Leste relates to capacity building by the government and public sector to meet the challenges of development. Enormous challenges remain regarding the human resource capacity of the government which continues to have limited resources and capacity to meet the aspirations and expectations of the Timorese. In 2002 the official languages declared for Timor-Leste were Portuguese and Tetum but only 33% of MPs speak Portuguese. The process of drafting and passing legislation is incredibly lengthy and difficult. Following 25 years of occupation by Indonesia, colonisation by Portugal and the withdrawal of the Indonesians, a vast amount of public sector experience left the country. Building public sector capacity to govern the country presents an enormous challenge.
In its previous strategic plan DCI expressed a clear commitment to support capacity building in the public sector under the UNDP programmes and other instruments. Trócaire recommends that this should continue into the future. When the Foreign Minister for Timor-Leste was in Ireland earlier this year, he spoke at the Trócaire annual lecture. He reiterated the point on the enormous capacity gaps in Timor-Leste. Some 400 legislative Bills and Acts need to be drafted in the newly independent country. We recommend that the government support capacity building of the public sector. It is recommended that DCI should also continue to support capacity building of the public sector, that it be an integral component of its future strategy, and that such support take the form of practical mentoring and technical assistance, rather than consultants jetting in and out. This should continue far beyond the end of the UN political mission on 20 May 2006. Trócaire recommends that the identification of technical assistance be based on an evaluation of developments in the previous three years. Feedback from our civil society partners suggests this assistance has had mixed success. Identification of technical assistance should involve an input from civil society.
A further recommendation concerns decentralisation, a new issue for Timor-Leste. In its previous strategy DCI demonstrated a strong commitment to policy development on local government in Timor-Leste in working with the Ministry of Internal Administration. In 2005 the first village and sub-village elections were held, a positive development, although there is a long way to go. Many challenges remain, including the lack of infrastructure and communication facilities between districts and the centre, before decentralisation can take place. There are major capacity gaps at national level, which are exacerbated at district and sub-district level. We recommend that DCI should continue to support ongoing evolution and development of decentralisation in Timor-Leste through policy dialogue. The form and model of decentralisation to be followed must be debated. Support should also be provided through personnel and institutional capacity building. The DCI strategy on decentralisation should be sufficiently flexible to meet the current government's position. Progress has been slower than anticipated. However, the strategy should not be hampered or withdrawn if progress is slow.
DCI should explicitly support capacity building for women representatives in local governance bodies, particularly in suko or village councils. There have been difficulties in adhering to the quota system. The Government of Timor-Leste has adopted an affirmative action policy which states three out of five seats should be filled by women but it has been difficult to put this into practice due to the lack of educational and other opportunities for women to date. Civil society is strongly in favour of decentralisation because it sees it as a means of bringing government closer to the people and civil society engaging in budget monitoring, the processes of policy development at local level and holding government to account.
The third recommendation concerns gender equality. DCI has stressed the need for gender equality in many of its programmes and we wish to see this reiterated in its strategy. The high level of gender inequality is widely discussed in Timor-Leste. UNVP data show that men earn eight times the amount earned by women, while the maternal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world at 800 deaths per 100,000 women. Gender inequality is a major issue.
Domestic violence is extremely prevalent in Timor-Leste, much of which can be related to the years of conflict and oppression. Current figures suggest 40% of reported crimes involve domestic violence. One of Trócaire's partner organisations in Timor-Leste, Rede Feto, has highlighted that, despite the government's stated commitment to gender equality and mainstreaming, there is an unsatisfactory level of integration of gender issues with government policy. Our key recommendation is that DCI support the development of laws, particularly on anti-discrimination and domestic violence. A Bill on domestic violence must be enacted. Gender equality training should be provided and capacity building supported at all levels of government as these are critical to effective implementation of government policy and programmes.
This training should be practical in scope and should concern gender analysis, combined with guidelines and tools for gender mainstreaming, because this is quite difficult to implement. Development Cooperation Ireland has a wealth of experience in this respect and should use lessons learned from its other bilateral priority countries into its work in Timor-Leste.
Our fourth area of recommendation concerns support for civil society. While we feel this is an area in which organisations such as Trócaire and Concern are extremely active, Development Cooperation Ireland also has a role to play in this regard. Many civil society organisations have struggled since 2002 because, as I noted, funding has decreased since independence. Moreover, donor expectations, particularly in terms of programme development, reporting and accountability have increased. As one of our partners, the Catholic Institute for International Relations, has observed, during the Indonesian occupation, civil society organisations struggled for independence and mobilised communities independence activists. Its role now is to organise communities for human development, which is a significant and difficult change. Hence, civil society organisations struggle with issues such as how to professionalise, how to acquire the ability to develop strategic plans and how to meet the needs of communities with high expectations of local NGOs in Timor-Leste.
Development Cooperation Ireland is in a unique position to support civil society organisations in the development of strategies to engage with the government, rather than continually being an oppositional force. While that phenomenon can be seen in countries that have just emerged from occupation, constructive engagement with the government on policy development is a key role for civil society. Hence, our recommendations are: that Development Cooperation Ireland should encourage and support the development of civil society networks within Timor-Leste as effective bodies for the influencing of policy and to enable civil society to engage in key consultative processes; that it should support civil society organisations through their transition from organising communities of activists to organising communities for development; and that it should maintain and deepen ongoing dialogue with organisations such as Trócaire and Concern, the two Irish agencies active in Timor-Leste, with respect to policy and their programme development.
The appendix on human rights complements the section on civil rights. I apologise that it is contained in a separate document and not in the main body of the text. At present, Timor-Leste is grappling with its population's calls for justice, based on the atrocities committed in 1999, while pursuing a policy of reconciliation with neighbouring Indonesia. Development Cooperation Ireland has supported the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, which has been running for the past three or four years. The findings have recently been submitted to the Timor-Leste Government and it remains to be seen what will happen to them. The manner in which a donor government works with a bilateral government in respect of human rights is a sensitive matter. Trócaire recommends that Development Cooperation Ireland can play an important role in supporting the emerging judiciary in Timor-Leste, particularly by supporting the judicial system monitoring process, which is of major importance. It can also support a strong civil society, which plays a key role in upholding human rights, as well as supporting civic education programmes, which it has done in the past in Timor-Leste.
Our final set of recommendations concerns the importance of drawing from lessons learned in Timor-Leste. This is particularly important as far as Ireland's future role is concerned. The lessons from Timor-Leste are particularly useful from the perspective of examining how a government can work in a post-crisis and post-conflict country. It addition, there are lessons to be learned from Timor-Leste that may be relevant in other regions of the world that experience a massive influx of aid and involvement on the part of the donor and international communities, followed by a rapid dissipation of such aid and interest. We will probably witness this in the countries affected by the tsunami in years to come. Hence, we feel there are important lessons to be learned in terms of how rapid aid is assimilated in a country.
As far as other post-conflict bilateral countries are concerned — Ireland has key expertise in this regard — experience has been gained by operating in Timor-Leste during the emerging years of the new nation state in terms of helping the nation to build its governance systems, as well as working with returning exiles from around the world. Lessons learned in this respect may be extremely important for countries such as Burma and Palestine that are in difficult situations at present. We also feel that Development Cooperation Ireland could draw lessons from states that have come through similar crises and where donors have left too quickly, leading to what are currently called "failed states". This reiterates the importance of a sustained presence in Timor-Leste, not to develop aid dependancy but to continue to build that nation state's capacity to govern itself and to support it through years to come, when other donors may pull out. Our key recommendation is that the Government, through its aid division, DCI, should continue to support the provision of long-term and sustained assistance for Timor Leste.
Ms McCann did not make reference to the revenue that will flow from oil and gas reserves. Does she have any knowledge of this?
Ms McCann
They are beginning to come on-stream and the benefits will be seen in 2007. A border dispute with Australia over the boundary of oil and gas fields is ongoing and the level of reserves is unclear. Once Timor Leste begins to benefit from this revenue, many donors will reduce the level of their aid assistance, rightly so. Until the amount is clear and the border dispute is resolved, it will be difficult to know by how much the country will benefit. It is a contentious issue in Timor Leste.
From Ms McCann's experience and Trócaire's point of view, how does she see the situation? How do people feel the matter is progressing?
Ms McCann
There is a huge level of expectation in a young population, particularly since independence was gained in 2002. However, we see increasing frustration as expectations are not being seen to be met quickly enough. That is natural while the country rebuilds itself after years of occupation. During occupation by Indonesia most of the skilled personnel governing Timor Leste were Indonesians. One of the major issues is that unemployment is extremely high.
I did not mention that DCI supports the major transitional support programme which is similar to a World Bank administered fund. The fund may change as it is short term in nature. However, it is critically important, particularly in supporting domestic markets and the agricultural economy. Approximately 90% of the population are still engaged in agriculture which is the poorest sector in the country. I did not touch on all of the issues mentioned in the paper because we have tried to hone in on particular areas.
Until the issue of employment is grappled with, there may be large waves of emigration from Timor Leste. That would be a dreadful shame, given the level of optimism and human potential in the country. The Timorese have an extremely strong national identity and a hope for their country, naturally so after what they have come through. We see hope and frustration. Our partner organisations grapple with the question of how to meet community expectations. They also need skills and expertise. Many of our partners try to do everything, from lobbying on the issue of oil and gas revenue to land rights, coffee plantations, coffee prices and government structures. However, they must hone in on particular areas and gain expertise.
I thank Ms McCann for her presentation. I would like to deal with one or two issues. What is the level of co-operation between Trócaire and Concern? Is it ensured there is no duplication of effort and that they are not ploughing the same furrow? Will Ms McCann elaborate on the level of co-operation between both organisations and DCI?
Ms McCann did not mention food security. I note that the United Nations food programme director identified it as one of the major issues to be dealt with in Timor Leste. Approximately 40% of the population experience food shortages and spend approximately 70% of income on food. Approximately 13,000 nursing mothers and 40,000 children are considered to be deprived of food. Is Ms McCann's organisation addressing this issue? Perhaps I am out of order in saying this, but I get the impression that Trócaire deals with many of the political and social issues such as the development of local democracy. However, the most immediate concern is to ensure a food supply.
I found the presentation interesting and practically oriented, which is what one expects from Trócaire. I am tempted to say there are aspects of it where we might have particular expertise to extend, especially in the area of decentralisation. However, I will resist doing so.
On a more serious note, the emphasis on underpinning civil society is important and I like the distinction Ms McCann drew between developing an opposition or anti-government expertise in the country and the need for a viable civil society. A weakness in some of our programme countries would have been the difficulty or inability of our programmes to facilitate the emergence of strong civil societies.
The following question has struck me on a number of occasions when listening to presentations about Timor-Leste. Culturally, how different is what Trócaire is trying to do there from, for example, what it does in Africa and elsewhere? Is it possible to transfer practice from what Trócaire is doing in Africa to Timor-Leste?
The other issue I wish to raise relates to the area of human rights. Is the truth and friendship commission in Timor-Leste in any way like the model of the South African commission? What is its purpose?
It is essential that support be given to the judicial system in Timor-Leste. On what is its judicial system based? Is it based on the British-Australian model, is there an entirely different model of justice in Timor-Leste or is it based on another set of principles? In other words, what can Ireland do at a practical level? Can we second experts from our universities, the Bar or the Bar Council to assist? I understand there are programmes, some of which are run by the Bar Council and others which may involve the Chief Justice. How useful is the transfer of our knowledge to Timor-Leste and how applicable is it to that country's system?
I do not mean to be facetious but I was interested to discover that decentralisation is also a serious issue in other parts of the world.
I thank Ms McCann for her presentation. It sets out an interesting and balanced picture of the position and how it is developing. How well can Trócaire and other agencies involved direct aid to the areas where it is most severely needed? That is an issue I have often raised in the past.
I am not sure whether our programme operates through bilateral or multilateral aid. We operate bilateral aid programmes in some countries. I wonder whether the benefits of one or other aid method have been measured against the situation in Timor-Leste. Perhaps different situations require different templates. Ms McCann's view on this would be useful.
Irish aid organisations and State agencies have developed considerable expertise that could be utilised effectively — to better effect in come places rather than in others — in a situation such as that described by Ms McCann. I refer to military personnel and people with expertise in particular areas who could be deployed effectively in that kind of situation.
It seems that Ireland is not the only country that experiences difficulties in respect of gas and oil pipelines, demarcation and similar matters. The future development of the Timor-Leste economy is a fundamental issue. Is there more we should do to influence the Australians or Indonesians in this area? It sounds a little like history repeating itself, as happened elsewhere.
Ireland moved from a high dependency on agriculture and we went through difficult times in the 1950s and 1960s but the European Union was a great help in this regard. Timor-Leste is sandwiched between Indonesia and Australia, which are large markets. Will it have much of an opportunity in these markets? The EU will be a significant contributor to Timor-Leste. What is Trócaire's experience of the EU's work?
Ms McCann
I thank members for their questions. There has not been much collaboration between Concern and Trócaire on the ground to date because we have worked in different ways. Following the crisis in 1999, Concern went in and directly implemented programmes. Its volunteers managed personnel on the ground and implemented food security and food for work programmes and their own development programmes. Trócaire, on the other hand, channels support through partner organisations. We have supported local civil society organisations. We never sent personnel, for example, but last August we opened an office in Jakarta, mainly in response to the overwhelming need to monitor more effectively the work following the tsunami. That means our work in East Timor is based in Jakarta. I will have to refer a number of questions to our field office because our people there have more up-to-date information. They will be in and out of Timor-Leste more frequently than in the past. When two different models are used for the work, it is difficult at times, but given that we have increased our presence there and we want to increase our investment in the country, Timor-Leste is a priority for Trócaire. We will discuss this much further with Concern because it is also moving more towards the partnership approach in supporting local organisations. We are aware of the need to collaborate more closely and no one wants to duplicate efforts on the ground.
I did not mention food security because I was trying to focus on where DCI should place its support. DCI has given more than 50% of its support to the transitional support programme funding major infrastructural projects in Timor-Leste, many of which are concerned with market development and the expansion of the economy, which is linked to food production and access to markets. Many of our partner organisations historically have been involved in human rights. I mentioned only five partners in the list but we have a sixth partner, Caritas Dili. Three of those work in agriculture — Sa'he, Cadep, Caritas Dili. Much of their work concentrates on increasing the skills of farmers in agricultural production. Timor-Leste imports rice for domestic consumption, which is a disgrace, and this highlightscapacity issues.
Land rights are also a major issue in Timor-Leste. Until people have ownership of the land, it will be difficult to make it productive because they could lose it at any time. Land is owned by the Portuguese and Indonesians while Timor-Leste is developing its own land ownership. This is incredibly complex and many of our partners are advocating on land reform and appropriate land ownership. It is structurally complicated. The majority of the population suffers food shortages three months of every year. That is a significant issue.
DCI's previous strategy did not focus on that, possibly because its support related to the political architecture of the country, which is fundamental. I geared my presentation more to that.
While Trócaire is building that, the people are starving.
Ms McCann
Yes, but out of a sum of €4 million, DCI invested €2 million in the transitional support programme, much of which addressed immediate needs. However, a balance must be struck and our work tries to balance immediate and long-term needs. I agree with the Deputy on that matter.
I refer to the transfer of practice from Africa. We work in nine other Asian countries and, therefore, a great deal of experience can be transferred from neighbouring countries such as the Philippines and Cambodia, in particular, which went through years of oppression under the Khmer Rouge. Much learning can be transferred between other Asian countries and Timor-Leste, whereas practice in Africa is contextually and culturally different, as poverty in the latter is far more extreme. We have brought representatives of partner agencies to see how programmes are working in the Philippines, especially those relating to agriculture, in respect of which the Philippines is more advanced. Much knowledge is transferred.
Working with local organisations is the best way to direct aid to areas where it is most needed. Local organisations are rooted in the community and have access to the most remote areas. While offices are often located in district towns, those working for the organisations visit the most remote areas. In its 32 years Trócaire has always worked with local organisations and shown that this is the way to get to the most remote and needy areas, to where international personnel will not go because of the danger involved or the remoteness of the location.
The benefits of a bilateral aid programme versus a multilateral aid programme represent an issue DCI can address better than Trócaire. DCI has a bilateral aid programme with Timor-Leste, one of its seven priority countries. Other priority countries are in Africa, while an office has recently been opened in Vietnam. The advantage of a multilateral system is that a government is not dealing with ten others, which causes a major administrative strain. The lack of capacity to absorb increases in aid is often due to a government being overwhelmed with reporting and donor requirements. The advantage of a multilateral system is that there is one mechanism, which is more effective in delivering aid. The advantage of a bilateral programme is that the Government of Ireland can have more policy discussions with Timor-Leste, which increases the closeness between the two countries.
I refer the question of Irish people being deployed to those closer to the Timor-Leste programme such as staff in our Jakarta office who could suggest the expertise most needed. Training for members of the police and judiciary is a major issue. Perhaps it is an area in which Ireland can share expertise but I cannot provide a definitive answer. I do not know whether the judicial system is based on the Portuguese, Australian or British model. I believe it is the latter but I would need to clarify this. I can also refer this matter to the office in Jakarta and send a written response to the committee.
Regarding opportunities in agriculture, because of its location between Indonesia and Australia, it will be very difficult for Timor-Leste to compete in the global market. Concerning Deputy Allen's comments on immediate needs, the priority is to deal with food shortages internally, build capacity in Timor-Leste for food production and develop local markets. The infrastructure in place is appalling once one leaves the main hubs of Dili and Bacau. The development of the domestic market is crucial for agriculture. However, I am not certain of the role Timor-Leste will play in the international market as it is wedged between two major players, namely, Indonesia and Australia.
The European Union has supported major programmes in Timor-Leste but Trócaire has never drawn down EU funding because its partner organisations are not strong enough to absorb large amounts of funding and the European Union has a minimum figure of €500,000 available. Our funding was comparatively low but this reflects the capacity of our local partners. Experience in other areas shows that local organisations will collapse if swamped by funds. They should be restructured and helped to develop instead.
Is corruption widespread?
Ms McCann
Civil society organisations frequently refer to the three "K"s, namely, three Indonesian words signifying corruption, cronyism and collusion, or something similar, and have stated that it is growing. Some of our civil society partners, such as La'o Hamutuk, the Timor-Leste Institute for Reconstruction, Monitoring and Analysis, and the Kadalak Sulimutuk Institute, KSI, attempt to monitor public expenditure. Unfortunately, however, it appears that corruption is a growing issue in the country, particularly in certain ministries.
In Trócaire's experience, in countries in which there are consultative processes with civil society in respect of issues such as poverty reduction strategies, civil society can be engaged in budget discussions and in monitoring budget expenditure. Civil society can play such a watchdog role.
Does the financial input to the country mainly go to NGOs or agencies such as Trócaire or does it go directly to government departments?
Ms McCann
In the main, Development Cooperation Ireland's funding, which I understand came to some €4 million last year, went to government departments and to building the capacity of the public sector. As Trócaire never supports national governments, all our support goes to civil society organisations. As regards the Government's programme, which operates through Development Cooperation Ireland, some €200,000 of the €4 million budget went to civil society organisations. However, the vast bulk went to government sources in Timor-Leste. In the main, Development Cooperation Ireland's programme constitutes government to government support.
Does the Chair know whether the joint committee has asked Development Cooperation Ireland its views on how well the money it provides is being spent?
Representatives of the Department have appeared before the joint committee to provide it with information. Their contributions will have been recorded and we can check them.
Did the joint committee address that issue? I cannot recall.
We can check the position.
The joint committee will probably be in contact with Trócaire before completing its report. I thank Ms McCann for her attendance and for getting through so much so quickly. I wish Trócaire every success in its work.
The joint committee went into private session at 2.55 p.m. and adjourned at 3.15 p.m. until 11.30 a.m. on Tuesday, 20 December 2005.