Page 3628 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 28 October 2014
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The relationship provides a forum for links and exchanges between Canberra and Dili. Through local government and community partnership, the friendship relationship supports the transfer of knowledge, skills and resources. These exchanges lead to greater understanding between both communities and will shape rewarding and warm long-term relationships between the residents of the two cities.
It is under the principles of this agreement that the ACT government has provided humanitarian support to Timor-Leste since the signing of the agreement, as well as providing a temporary embassy in Canberra while the current embassy was under construction.
In the initial years of the agreement, close ties were established between the two cities, with ACT government agencies providing advice to their Timor-Leste counterparts in the areas of vocational training, domestic violence and water policy.
In recent years the ACT has supported child and maternal health in Timor-Leste through direct funding for programs operated by the Alola Foundation and is currently supporting the mother tongue pilot project to improve indigenous skills for preschool students. During my brief visit, I was lucky enough to see the Alola Foundation’s work, which I will talk more about shortly.
The government has also assisted Connect East Timor to establish a radio transmitter network to improve telecommunications in rural areas. These funds were committed by the then Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, from the community support fund.
The ACT actively participates in a working group of commonwealth, state and territory officials chaired by AusAID to exchange information on development activities by all jurisdictions in Timor-Leste.
To further strengthen this connection to Dili, it was decided that in the lead-up to our centenary year celebrations, the dollars for Dili fundraising initiative would be established, aimed at building the capacity of youth in Canberra’s friendship city of Dili in Timor-Leste. Dollars for Dili was officially launched on Canberra’s 98th birthday, 12 March 2011, as a partnership between the centenary of Canberra, Scouts Australia and the Rotary Club of Dubbo South. This project was launched in the spirit that in Canberra’s birthday year it was better to give than to receive, and that is just what has been achieved.
The goals of dollars for Dili were to deliver two key projects: a schools project to improve sanitation and health facilities to encourage more girls to attend school, and a community project to design and construct a scout activity centre for Timor-Leste scouting. The dollars for Dili project has directly helped thousands of young people in Dili, Canberra’s friendship city, by providing the funding for much-needed infrastructure projects, including the new national activities centre for the Timor-Leste Scout Association and the construction of improved sanitation and health facilities at two nominated Dili primary schools.
The dollars for Dili appeal raised over $230,000, and the ACT government donated $47,000. Although the original target of $358,000 was not met, the initiative has been
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