National Parliament’s PermanentCommittee’s meetings During the parliamentary recess period from 15 July - 15 Au-gust, the Permanent Committee of the National Parliamentmet (i) to discuss the methodology for developing the annualreport on the activities of the National Parliament; and (ii) thepreparation of the agenda for the first week after the recess.The Permanent Committee is chaired by the President of theNational Parliament and consists of the Vice Presidents andMPs representing the different party benches.

Learning through the artsTraining activities conducted at the National Parliament usually

focus on sharing technical knowledge related to the work that

a parliament is expected to perform in accordance with its man-

date. During the recess period, the Department of Human Re-

sources of the National Parliament, with the support of Denise

Zanuni, UNDP Human Resources Advisor and Ana Fraga,

UNDP Legal Advisor to the Standing Committees, took ad-

vantage of the break in order to organize a two-week training

program that focused on staff attitudes and behavioral change.

Painting, games, dances, and images were used to stimulate cre-

ativity, team work, rapid thinking and problem-solving and lan-

guage comprehension, as well as promote rule-oriented

behavior and respect for the work of others.

Australia’s Reproductive HealthAlliance (ARHA) meets with GMPTLOn 4 August, Ms. Jane Singleton and Ms. Alice Ruxton from

the Australia Reproductive Health Alliance (ARHA) met with

the Women’s Caucus (GMPTL) and other MPs. The meeting

provided an opportunity to discuss the establishment of a Par-

liamentary Group on Population and Development in Timor

Leste. The Australian Parliamentary Group on Population and

Development (PGPD) is a cross-party group of party parlia-

mentarians from the Federal and State/Territory Parliaments

Flash News

FLASH NEWS • 20 JULY - 23 AUGUST

o Estatuto dos Apátridas” and Draft Resolution n.33/II,“Convenção para a Redução dos casos de Apátridas”were referred to the Committee for Constitutional Af-fairs, Judiciary, Public Administration (Committee A).These conventions deal with the status of stateless peo-ple and focus on the legal and political steps required toreduce their numbers.• Draft Resolution n.34/II, “Aprovação doAcordo Básico de Cooperação entre a RepublicaDemocrática de Timor-Leste e o Reino de Espanha”represents the cooperation agreement between Timor-Leste and Spain and was referred to the Committee forForeign Affairs and Defence (Committee B).• Draft Resolution n.35/II, “Adesão à Convençãode Viena para a Protecção da Camada de Ozono e oProtocolo de Montreal para a Redução de Substânciasque Empobrecem a Camada de Ozono,” dealing withthe protection of the ozone layer and the substancesthat deplete it, was referred to the Committee for Agri-culture, Fisheries, Forestries, Natural Resources and En-vironment (Committee D)

Assessment Mission from thePortuguese ParliamentAn Assessment Mission from the Portuguese Parliamentarrived on 17 August. The Mission’s purpose is to assistin the drafting of the Assistance Program between theParliaments of Timor-Leste and Portugal. The Por-tuguese Delegation is composed by the Deputy S-G, Ms.Teresa Xardoné, the Director for Information and Doc-umentation, Mr. Rui da Costa, and Head of the Divi-sion for International Relations, Ms. Cristina Ferreira.The mission held meetings with parliamentary officialsand UNDP.

Government Bill on Budget andFinancial Management was ad-mitted to Parliament and re-ferred to the relevantCommittee On 18 August, Government Bill n. 28/II, “Orçamentoe Gestão Financeira,” was admitted to Parliament andreferred to the Committee for Economy, Finance andAnti-Corruption (Committee C) for consideration. Thisbill defines the role of the Executive and the Legisla-ture regarding budget and financial management and

who focus on sexual and reproductive health issuesdomestically and internationally. ARHA, with the sup-port of UNFPA, supports the establishment of Par-liamentary Groups on Population and Developmentin Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea.

Visit to the PhilippinesDuring the period of 7-15 August, 8 members of theWomen’s Caucus and the President of Committee Ewent on a study visit to the Philippines. The purposeof the visit was to gather information and gain expe-rience regarding Gender Equality Legislation. Duringthe visit, the Timorese delegation met with MPs fromboth the Upper and Lower Chambers of the Philip-pine Congress who were involved in the drafting ofthe Philippino Magna Carta of Women.

Four new Draft Resolution ad-mitted to Parliament and re-ferred to CommitteesOn 17 August four important Draft Resolutions wereadmitted to Parliament and referred to the relevantStanding Committees for consideration. • Draft Resolution n.32/II, “Convenção sobre

Flash News

UNDP Timor-Leste

Democratic Governance Unit

Parliament Project

alessandra.ronchi@undp.org

Please Remember to Tune In:

Parlamentaria’ is the radio program of the National Parliament produced in cooperation and coordination withRadio Timor-Leste (RTL). ‘Parlamentaria’ is a 30 minuteprogramme in Tetum with news on the National Parliament and interviews with its members. The programme is broadcast every Sunday at 6:30pm on RTL.

COMING UPCommittee C will hold Public Hearings on Gov-

ernment Bill n. 28/II

The Committee for Economy, Finance and Anti-Cor-

ruption will organize a seminar to discuss on Govern-

ment Bill n. 28/II “Orçamento e Gestão Financiera”

that was admitted to Parliament on Tuesday, 18 Au-

gust.

outlines the principles of public financial accountability. It willreplace UNTAET Regulation 2001/13.

Committee D holds PublicHearings on the Proposal ofResolution n.35/IIOn Wednesday, 19 August, the Committee for Agriculture,Fisheries, Forestries, Natural Resources and Environment heldPublic Hearings with the Secretary of State for Environment,Mr. Abilio Lima, on Draft Resolution n.35/II regarding theadoption of the Vienna Convention for the protection of theozone layer and of the Montreal Protocol on substances thatdeplete the ozone layer. The Convention is a framework agreement for internationalefforts to protect the ozone layer and entered into force in1988. It aims to protect human health and the environmentagainst adverse effects resulting from the depletion of theozone layer. The framework provided by the Conventionrefers to (1) research on substances and processes which mod-ify the ozone layer and impact on human health and the envi-ronment; (2) international cooperation on measures forcontrolling the depletion of the ozone layer and the establish-ment of protocols for this purpose; and (3) exchange of rel-evant scientific, technical, socio-economic, commercial and legalinformation.The Protocol was established under the Vienna Conventionand entered into force in 1989. The objective of the Protocolis to protect the ozone layer by controlling of emissions ofsubstances that deplete the ozone layer and to do this in anequitable manner with special consideration for developingcountries.

Committee H holds PublicHearings on Government Billn. 24/IIOn 19 August, the Committee for Youth, Sports,

Labour and Professional Education (Committee H)

held Public Hearings on Government Bill n. 24/II “Lei

de Base do Desporto” - the first legislative initiative in

Timor Leste to regulate the area of sports and define the

system, structure, conditions and opportunities to practice

sports as a fundamental activity in the development of

youth and for the strengthening of national identity. The

Hearings started with a meeting with the Timor-Leste Na-

tional Olympic Committee and Timor-Leste National

Para-Olympic Committee and will continue until the be-

ginning of next month.

The Council of Administra-tion approved the NationalParliament Budget for 2010.On 19 August, the Secretary General of The National

Parliament, Mr. João Rui Amaral, presented the proposed

Parliament Budget 2010 to the Council of Administra-

tion. The budget was approved after a lively debate. The

Council of Administration will now send the budget to

the Committee on Economy, Finance and Anti-Corrup-

tion (Committee C) for its review and opinion.