PROMOTING YOUTH LITERACY AND CIVIC EDUCATION IN TIMOR-LESTE
Timor-Leste is struggling to provide basic public services and create an informed citizenry. With literacy at only 50 percent, limited access to educational opportunities and 53 percent of the population under 17 years of age, reaching children and youth is a priority concern. To respond to these challenges, the Foundation supported initiatives to spur literacy, promote understanding of democratic principles, and strengthen civic participation. For example, the Xanana Gusmão Reading Room organized an essay contest on the constitution that involved 60 youths from Dili. The contest sparked interest in creating a permanent forum for further debate among youth. In rural Aileu District, the Aileu Training and Resource Center and Ministry of Education organized a reading contest for school children in more than 80 percent of the district’s schools. Government officials recognized the children’s accomplishments by inviting contest winners to read their passages at the official Independence Day ceremonies.
MOBILE LEGAL AID FOR THE DISADVANTAGED
Five years after independence, Timor-Leste's formal justice system is overburdened. In addition to ordinary cases, the judiciary and staff are struggling to handle the skyrocketing number of criminal cases resulting from the widespread political violence of 2006 and 2007. The courts are inadequately staffed with a limited number of public defenders. In order to improve vulnerable citizens' ability to resolve their disputes peacefully, the Foundation cooperates with six local legal aid NGOs to provide the only nationwide legal aid services program for rural citizens. Over the last year, the legal aid teams handled approximately 763 cases through mediation and litigation; nearly 28 percent of the cases involved women. The presence of women lawyers is helping to increase women’s confidence in seeking legal assistance. And increasingly, locally elected leaders are relying on legal aid NGOs to provide guidance on mediation or information on laws related to disputes in their areas.