Despite the important role that women have in contributing to sustainable development, they are often marginalised from decision making and funding initiatives. There is some evidence of this in East Timor’s reconstruction processes, which are being assisted by a range of donor agencies, including many Australian-East Timorese partnerships. We have much to learn from the resilience and dignity of the East Timorese women at the grassroots, and their organisational strengths learnt from years of oppression.

During the twenty-five years illegal occupation of East Timor by Indonesian military forces, the participation of women was integral at every stage. Three primary organisational structures formed the basis for FRETILIN and the broad based resistence. These three organisations were the Organisação Populár Trabailheros Timor, Organisação Populár da Mulher Timor and Organisação Populár Juventude Timor (men/workers, women and youth). Based on the needs arising from the changing phases of the conflict and occupation, the women of East Timor through the structure of OPMT bore arms alongside men, provided logistical support, carried out a broad range of clandestine political and armed resistence activities, as well as taking primary responsibility for the well-being for family and community development often in the absence of men.

In 1998, OPMT under the auspices of the Conselho Nasionál da Resistensia Maubere (CNRM) initiated and socialised across the country the inclusion of all political parties under one unified umbrella organisation. This resulted in the formation of the Conselho Nasionál da Resistensia Timor including the women’s organisation Organisação da Mulher Timor (which resulted from the transformation and broadening of OPMT to include women of all political parties as part of the CNRT’s platform of national unity). This required considerable work in reconciliation between members of the original five political parties of 1975. The OMT has then continued forward built on the original resistence structure OPMT with approximately 70,000 women members organised into well over 3000 secretariats in each aldeia or extended family hamlet.

The OMT has a matrix management structure involving seven sectors of responsibility and activity which is then further organised into a tiered structure with the following levels aldeia, suko, zona district, region and finally a national secretariat. This reflects the indigenous political structure of East Timorese societies. Each secretariat can operate independently based on local priorities and to a large extent initiatives arise at the local level, with co-ordination, collaboration and co-operation taking place at higher levels in the structure. Direction and orientation can come from higher levels when and as needed, with implementation from the appropriate level within the grassroots structure. Co-ordinated mobilisation of OMT’s membership was a powerful tool in organising the entire population in resistance to the Indonesian occupation. The ability to communicate and mobilise resources across the country was and remains highly impressive, although the resource base of the organisation has still not been rebuilt to its former levels.

Now that the country has achieved independence, and the CNRT dissolved, OMT continues as an organisation of national women’s unity, with essentially the same structure, but with its primary functions shifting emphasis toward family and local community development as well as national reconstruction priorities. It retains the ability to mobilise its human resources very effectively in contributing to this work.

Unfortunately this highly effective grassroots structure does not appear to meet the expectations and requirements of donor agencies, which have often focused on more conventional organisational structures (generally NGO’s) specifically formed to accommodate donor funding, or such as the World Bank managed Community Empowerment and Local Governance Program which has focused on building new local government structures superceding indigenous political structures, clandestine and other social structures. OMT is marginalised from many of the economic and social initiatives taking place as a result. This has not stopped OMT from continuing its programs unaided, looking after the many widows and orphans left behind after the destruction, initiating education, health, economic and food programs, and providing shelter for the homeless.

OMT’s women members at the grassroots are capable of managing their own affairs, through highly effective co-operative effort. OMT is active in rebuilding sustainable food production and local industries, as well managing resources and assisting health and education. Working with structures such as these offers both a challenge and an opportunity in building relationships and understandings in the Asia–Pacific region, and requires a new understanding of how to overcome the subtle processes of marginalisation, the cultural imperialism of international development and the difficulties experienced by both international and local grassroots organisations in finding common local agendas.

About the author

Maria de Fatima Pinto was the Responsavél Géral of Organisação Populár da Mulher Timor (OPMT) and then from 1998, of the Organisação da Mulher Timor (OMT), during the Indonesian occupation, with responsibilities for mobilising the 70,000 women who belonged to the organisation. Since the UN occupation to the present she has stepped back from politics, and has played a major part in developing innovative social programs and economic enterprises so that women can reconstruct their lives. A current major project is repairing and adapting the former National Small-scale Industry Centre in Dili as a base for small industry, economic and skill development. Maria is 47, and mother of eight children.