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Australian Council for International Development
Timor Leste Civil Society Analysis

Report of an in-country consultation and desk revie w for strengthening
civil society

January – February 2008

Principle Consultant: Ann Wigglesworth
With Christopher Dureau and Jose da Costa Magno, Matrix International Consulting

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1. Introduction
The Australian Council for International Development
(ACFID), in collaboration with the Australian Agency for
International Development (AusAID) and a group of 1 8 Australian Non-Government Organisations (ANGOs),
identified the need for long-term support to streng then civil society capability in Timor Leste. ACFID c ontracted a
team of consultants to undertake a literature revie w, including research into other collaborative program models that
could inform this proposed initiative, an in countr y consultation with a broad range of key actors at both national and
district level, and a program design for a proposed civil society strengthening exercise. The research findings and
analysis which was undertaken as part of the design process, is provided here to the NGO community as a separate
document.
Civil Society in Timor Leste from 1975 was largely o rganised as resistance, church and youth/student mo vements.
However significant changes have occurred since 200 0. In the eight years since liberation the role and size of civil
society has changed substantially. The term civil society is used to denote the organised groups in society such as
non government organisations (NGOs), church groups, women’s groups, youth group s, media groups, special
interest associations etc. which have grown up to b ring together individuals on issues of common conce rn. An NGO
is an organisation that complies with a set of orga nisational development criteria required for registration as a NGO
with FONGTIL
1 and/or the Ministry of Justice 2. In Timor Leste, groups of people engaged in develo pment activities
with international donor funding generally refer to themselves as NGOs. Some of the more mature organi sations
based in Dili have a national focus to their work s o can be referred to as National NGOs. Community based
organisation (CBO) is a term often used for common interest gro ups that form at village levels. Youth organisations
which do not consider themselves NGOs have also sta rted to seek funding from international donors for
development activities. In Timor Leste, the vast maj ority of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are led by the
educated younger generation who desire to participa te in the development of an independent Timor Leste. These
organisations have often found it difficult to obta in donor funding to do what they consider important , and the desire
to obtain funds has led sometimes to their greater attention to donor articulated needs than to the needs of the
communities which they seek to serve.
2. Country and Sector Issues
Timor Leste became independent in 2002 following nea rly 450 years of Portuguese rule, 24 years of Indonesian
military occupation, and two and a half years under United Nations administration. Poverty is widespread in all
thirteen districts of Timor Leste, which remains the poorest nation in Asia. The legacy of centuries of under-
development neglect is profound. The years of occupa tion were traumatic, a quarter of the population are estimated
to have died, and much of the population engaged in clandestine activities in support of the armed resistance.
Almost the entire population was displaced by the s corched earth policies of the departing Indonesian Army in 1999.
A high degree of trauma is still evident and politi cal divisions between families and communities are still major
factors affecting daily life. Since April 2006 the country’s progress has been severely hampered by ci vil unrest and
inter-community fighting resulting in large populat ion displacement, societal divisions and subsequent resettlement
of internally displaced people (IDPs).
In spite of the intensity of donor activity and int ernational attention on Timor Leste in the last eigh t years there
continues to be limited development activity based outside of Dili. Civil society organisations were largely part of the
clandestine movement opposing the Indonesian occupa tion up until 1999. The umbrella organisation FONGTIL was
formed in 1998 with just 14 registered NGOs
3 mostly involved in human rights and advocacy work 4. During the
emergency period (1999-2001) there was a rapid grow th in numbers of new NGOs, which generally had limited skills
and resources. By early 2002 there were 231 local N GOs registered with FONGTIL. NGOs formed to meet don or
1 FONGTIL is the Portuguese acronym for the NGO Forum, the civil society umbrella organisations in Timor Leste. 2 A formal registration of NGOs was established by t he Ministry of Justice in 2005, but many donors still look for FONGTIL
registration which has a number of organisational d evelopment requirements. Some CSOs have also been a sked to show their
FONGTIL registration as a criterion for registratio n with the Ministry of Justice.
3 Hunt, Janet (2004) ‘Building a new society: NGOs i n East Timor’ New Community Quarterly, vol 2 no 1 p 16-23. 4 Several development NGOs also existed, set up by i nternational agencies. For example ETADEP agricultu ral NGO was
established by CRS and Bia Hula, a water and sanita tion NGO that was established by AusAID.

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demand for partner organisations and to participate
in work opportunities provided by the millions of dollars of aid
pouring into the country.
Some international NGOs employed local staff to ass ist them in their work. Others used existing and better
established Timorese NGOs as local partners. Howeve r the access to resources by international NGOs was seen
by local NGOs to contrast with their own inability to be part of the rehabilitation effort, largely because of their own
inexperience in drafting accountable project propos als or possessing the required technical experience . This and
the lack of job opportunities for Timorese in genera l led to widespread criticism about the marginalisation of
Timorese NGOs by the international aid effort
5. Timorese perceptions that the international commu nity did not place
sufficient value on their access to local knowledge and Timorese culture also led to a reticence to sub mit to western
donor’s procedural demands. As the emergency progra m came to an end there was greater attention towards the
recognition of the need for NGO capacity building, and the sustainability value in strengthening the local civil society,
although a significant number of international NGOs choose to implement programs directly without usin g local NGO
partners. Many international NGOs emergency respon se activities in 2006 raised further criticisms by local
organisations that they had been marginalised, as i n 2000-1. The emergency nature of the crisis led som e I NGOs
which had previously started working with local par tners to become operational themselves. Other NGO s taff
became employees of international programs abandoni ng their own local NGO.
There is currently no knowledge about exactly how ma ny local NGOs exist as large numbers of registered NGOs
are known to be inactive
6. While many local NGOs have their own clear missio ns, others have formed to meet donor
agency need for implementation staff. New NGOs have continued to form to fulfil service delivery roles, including for
development projects such as Community Water Supply and Sanitation Program or for food distribution during the
2006-7 crisis. Some observers note that such NGOs s hould be considered contractors rather than NGOs, as they
have not been established spontaneously to meet loc ally identified needs. In 2002, ACFID, working with Australian
NGOs (ANGOs) embarked on research into NGO aid effe ctiveness, finding the existence of organisational values is
a critical driver to play an effective development role. Effective program outcomes require program ac tivities to be
congruent with the values that the organisation rep resents. Also, effective funding partnerships are contingent on
long term relationships where partners work togethe r in trust and mutual learning to resolve issues and problems
7.
There are diverse views on the role of civil society . A perspective common amongst major international development
agencies places civil society in a crucial role in the delivery of services, to hold governments accou ntable and to
engage in advocacy to influence the government such that it becomes more responsive to the needs of the people,
particularly the poor. The activist role in civil so ciety, however, is one in which NGOs to play a crea tive and dynamic
role in national development. The ability of NGOs to represent a constituency and to strengthen the collaboration
between government and community is critical to thi s ‘alternate’ view of civil society. Within his view, NGOs work to
fulfil their own (rather than donors’) vision and m ission using local knowledge, initiative and skills to bring about
positive change in their society. Strong civil soci ety occurs when organisational development is based on values and
principles with a strong commitment to the communit y NGOs are serving, and have the skills to support the process.
The role of implementing service delivery programs s hould be just one means for NGOs to achieve develop ment
goals, yet donors are often unwilling to provide mo re than short term funding tied to the achievement of specific
project objectives. This results in a stop-start cyc le of activity implementation. Development of local capacity needs
to be based on the principle of enhancing what alre ady exists, directed towards building self-confidence and
empowering local participation. It is important tha t people are assisted to respond to new environment s, and that
capacity strengthening programs are a reflection of this. It is important to ensure that local organisations are given
the opportunity to express local citizen voices.
As local NGOs seek their legitimacy not from intern ational donors but from the communities they serve, their ability
to collaborate with Government will be increasingly important. The Fourth Constitutional Government, whi ch came to
5 The literature on this issues is analysed in a paper by Ann Wigglesworth (2006) ‘Partnership in Crisi s: Lessons from East
Timor’ in M. Clarke (ed) Aid and Conflict, Nova Sci ence Publishers, New York.
6 The FONGTIL Evaluation in March 2006 found 332 loc al NGOs on the membership list. It is likely that the actual number of
active NGOs is half this (Wigglesworth and Soares 2 006).
7 Chapman & Kelly (2007);’ Why understanding organis ational values and relationships is important for assessing aid
effectiveness – An NGO perspective’ Paper for Doing Evaluation Better Conference, Melbourne, September 2007

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power in 2007, is rolling out a program of decentra
lisation to reach a total of eight districts in 2008. District
Assemblies will be responsible for the allocation o f funding for community development initiatives, id entified through
Suco
8 Councils. District level government is expected to regulate this process and provide technical assistance
through the relevant ministries. Previously trialle d as pilots in Maliana and Los Palos, decentralisat ion processes
started in Aileu and Manatuto in 2007 and this year in Cova Lima, Manufahi, Ainaro and Baucau District s. Projects
supported will be predominantly infrastructure proj ects to be implemented by local contractors. A stro nger civil
society can support community assessment and planni ng processes and other ‘soft’ community development skills
to complement infrastructure projects. A strengthen ing of relations between government, community and civil society
will provide mutual benefits and effective implemen tation of development initiatives within poor commu nities.

3. Situation Analysis
A consultation was undertaken as part of the design process from 22
nd February to 13 th March 2008. This aimed at
understanding various stakeholders’ views on civil society strengthening through interviews and group discussions
with CSOs, NGOs, other international organisations and government bodies. Three districts were visited for
consultations with locally based CSOs, NGOs and the District Administrations. These are Cova Lima, Manufahi and
Baucau. A FONGTIL facilitated capacity building acti vity taking place in Baucau at the time of the visit enabled the
team to hear views of CSOs based in Los Palos, Viqu eque, Manatuto as well as Baucau District.
Aid Concentrated in Dili Given the huge volume of aid in Dili, it is surpris ing to find that few international organisations ha ve offices based in
the districts. Some have a presence in the District but operate out of Dili. Consequently, except in C ova Lima, most
CSOs we met have not received funds from an Austral ian NGO. The most common sources of support were ETCA S
(AusAID) and other embassy funds including New Zeala nd and Ireland. Support had also been received from
UNDP, WFP and FAO, often material in kind rather tha n cash grants. Most international NGOs implement their own
programs, and with a few exceptions, are not focuss ed on strengthening local civil society organisations. The
program suggested from this analysis should aim to build on the experience of those already involved in civil society
strengthening, and to provide district based NGOs w ith improved access to funding to work more effectively for their
constituencies own development goals.
The consultant team chose to visit districts which h ad both strong and weak international presence. In Suai,
Covalima district, there are a number of internatio nal agencies – Oxfam Australia, CARE, CCF, and GTZ
9 which
recently started a capacity strengthening program t o support the district decentralisation program have bases.
Oxfam Australia has a strong commitment to capacity development in the district. Manufahi’s capital Same, on the
other hand has but one international office, of the Irish NGO Concern. It is engaged in CSO capacity b uilding but
does not support any of the CSOs which turned up at the consultation. Baucau, as the second city in Timor Leste
has surprisingly just two international NGO offices . Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has a long history of CSO
engagement in the eastern districts and World Visio n Timor Leste runs a program focussed on youth voca tional
training. From the information available it appears that there are no international NGO offices in a number of districts
(such as Ainaro, Ermera, Manatuto and Viqueque) thr ough which a District Partnership could be established.
The CSOs which attended the consultations were dispr oportionately those which had never received funding. This
was perhaps a reflection of having time to spare th an more active CSOs, and that they expected benefit s from
attending the consultation. CSO staff were highly c ritical of international NGOs that implement directly rather than
work through local CSOs. In Dili few of the stronge r local NGOs attended although both strong and weak were
invited. We met many CSOs which have sought donor f unding from a range of sources. More often than not they fail
to attract funding, and when they do it is short te rm funding for specific activities, and without access to technical
support. After completion of the project they again become inactive in field activities while they seek further donor
funds. Such cyclical support does nothing to contri bute to sustainable relationships with communities, or perceptions
that development requires a long term commitment.
8 Sucos are the administrative unit of a village, divided into aldeias or hamlets. 9 GTZ is the official development agency of Germany .

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Limited skills and experience of CSOs
The roles and expectations of CSOs changed dramatica
lly after 1999. Rapid changes in the political, economic and
social environment over a few short years means tha t skills are needed today that were not needed yesterday.
There has been a considerable amount of training for ‘capacity building’ of CSOs in Timor Leste since 2000, but
many CSOs express concern that the training they ha ve received has focussed on how to meet project skills and
reporting requirements, with little attention to or ganisational development and sustainable capacity
10.
At the consultations undertaken in Suai and in Bauc au (covering the eastern districts) some CSOs had b een
successful in getting support on the basis of an or ganisational strategic plan, and annual financial support over a
number of years. Such support has been provided by Oxfam Australia, Concern, CAFOD
11 and GTZ. This had
allowed them to build organisational skills such as workplans, staff roles and responsibilities etc. The greater
confidence which these CSOs displayed was notable. An important aspect of these longer term relationships was
the trust built between international NGO and CSO.
Capacity building must start from the perspective t hat all people have capacity but changes in the con text in which
people operate create a need for continual capacity building to adjust to a changing external environment
12. A
consistent lesson from capacity building programs i n the region has been that support needs to be prov ided over the
long term to strengthen local institutions. This is all the more important in a rapidly changing enviro nment such as
that of Timor Leste. Community engagement skills, s trategic planning, work plans, staff management skills and
developing a skilled governance board make up part of the framework for an effective organisation.
Many CSOs rely on small grant funding which is prov ided without capacity building support. For an inexperienced
CSO this holds the risk that they will fail to meet reporting and financial management requirements, a nd thus having
reduced chances of gaining continued support. The ne ed for more intensive support is recognised by the Dili based
AusAID team managing the ETCAS grants program.
In Same most of the CSOs consulted had been unsucce ssful in getting their applications to donors approved. The
major capacity needs identified by CSOs were in pro posal writing, financial management, project reporting and
organisational development. English language was a major concern as most donors require project proposals to be
in English.
In Suai where CSOs had been more successful in acce ssing donor support, these concerns were also present
amongst the newer CSOs. The need for better skills i n community consultation strategies was also recognised as it
was noted that sometimes projects do not meet prior ity needs of the community.
At the large CSO consultation in Dili a diverse ran ge of CSOs identified strategic planning and mentor ing as
important capacity strengthening needs. It was note d that a lot of training had been provided but this often was not
translated into practice due to lack of opportunity to put it into practice and lack of follow up support. In Same, two
organisations had received training in financial ma nagement but had never received any funds to manage . Training
needs to be appropriately targeted both in terms of who is trained and its timing to meet the organisational needs.
Attendance at trainings often has resulted in train ed staff leaving the organisation for better opportunities elsewhere.
To ensure that information from training is understo od and informs organisational practices, ongoing supportive
relationships are needed such as mentoring support. Targeted one-on-one training in the work place is more
effective than training courses.
Weak understanding of civil society
The consultation demonstrated an overwhelming concer n by CSOs with their relationship with donors, and little
attention to their relationship with communities or with government. Civil society needs to be underst ood in the
context of the society. Organised civil society in Timor Leste is largely made up of the younger gener ation educated
in the Indonesian education system. Most of this ge neration have a level of education which leads to their
expectation of an office job rather than returning to a rural life of farming. The major source of emp loyment for this
group is as teachers (for as long as Indonesian lan guage is the medium of instruction in schools) and in the NGO
10 See Evaluation of FONGTIL March 2006, also East Timor NGO Capacity Building Scheme Summary Report Mar ch 2004. 11 CAFOD, the UK partner of the Caritas Catholic network, Concern is an Irish NGO based in Dili. 12 See James, Rick (2001) ‘Power and Partnership? Exp eriences of NGO Capacity Building’ INTRAC, Oxford.

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sector. This group of people represents an importan
t resource for the country, both government and com munity and
should be supported in its attempts to understand t he potential role they can play.
Organisational development within civil society mus t be supported by capacity building strategies which focus on
strengthening the CSOs’ ability to play a valued ro le in society. Organisational development skills to enable a CSO
to demonstrate leadership based on a vision and mis sion which extends beyond the implementation of projects.
Their accountability needs to be not only to the don or but to the communities with which they work. Con cepts of
constituency, appropriate consultation and listenin g skills, and accountability to the community need to be
developed.
A comprehensive understanding of the role of civil society needs to be nurtured such that civil society is seen in
relation to communities and government, not exclusi vely donors. Some CSOs have set themselves up to ge nerate
income, delivering NGO projects to the communities as an opportunity for gaining salaries for themselves. It was
commented that such opportunism was also exhibited by international NGOs which initiated program
implementation to take advantage of emergency funds in 1999-2001 or 2006. The exclusive focus on donor-CSO
relations by some NGOs and CSOs eclipses the potent ial for CSOs to build meaningful relationships within their
society.
A change in government in Timor Leste has opened up new opportunities for communities. The potential for CSOs
to be part of district based processes for Suco development is greatly increased compared to the e xperience of the
past few years. The decentralisation process will re sult in greater activity in the districts, with District Assemblies
being responsible for the allocation of funds to th e Sucos for infrastructure projects. Community development skills
are scarce in Timor Leste. The strengthening of CSO skills for supporting community led assessment and analysis
will contribute to local development initiatives wh ich can seek funding from government sources. The so cial
development and organisational skills of CSOs can b ecome an asset within the broader community, while the
sustainability of local organisations is enhanced b y diversification of their funding base.
Gender and the Environment
Women are under represented in the NGO sector, as i n other sectors in Timorese society. Traditional society does
not consider that women should be involved in decis ion making. Although these attitudes are changing it is a slow
process. Even amongst CSOs there is little evidence of engaging women except in areas they are traditionally
considered to be competent which include financial management and family health related activities. A number of
enterprising women have established their own NGOs.
Women are socialised to be quite and submit to men’ s authority. Men working in local CSOs claim that it is difficult
to involve women due to their reticence to speak ou t. Gender strategies need to focus not only on supporting
women’s involvement but also in helping male CSO wo rkers to have the skills to encourage women to speak out
and participate as equals. Changing gender attitude s is not facilitated by the common perception that gender
concerns are western constructs. A focus on inclusi ve development through the community led planning p rocess will
bring women into greater focus for CSOs.
Gender analysis is critical in resolving many envir onmental issues in rural development. For instance women have a
major input into family agriculture, water and fire wood collection and need to be consulted on issues of land use and
water supply for the protection from deforestation and erosion. The improvement of agricultural practic es is an
important aspect of community development. It can b e supported through increased engagement with dist rict
administration’s agricultural support programs as w ell as through sustainable agriculture networks How ever, the
mechanisation of agriculture must be analysed with respect to workload not only in land preparation but also the
tasked done by women, such as weeding and harvestin g.

4. Lessons Learned
As part of the consultancy, a desk review was undertaken to identify effective capacity stre ngthening programs in
the Asia-Pacific region.
Since independence civil society strengthening proj ects were undertaken by the United Nations Developm ent
Program (UNDP) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), both projects having been completed and evaluated. The

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evaluations provide important lessons. The UNDP CSO
Support Project 13 had as its objective to assist local CSOs
to contribute to the millennium development goals, a concept which was the agenda of the UNDP, not the CSOs
themselves. CSOs have their own agendas, and want s upport to achieve them. The project was found by the
evaluators to have underachieved due to its unreali stic goals which could have been avoided by a more participatory
approach to project design.
The CRS Engaging Civil Society Project
14 used a two tier model with national NGOs as core p artners to support
‘satellite’ CSOs in a cascade model. It aimed to in crease capacities of core and satellite groups, build networks and
coalitions and develop advocacy capacities amongst CSOs. The final evaluation report found the ‘capabilities,
priorities and commitments of the partners were oft en a mismatch for the expectations of the project’. The project
had not recognised that the organisations were at a formative stage of development, most CSOs needing to develop
mission and vision statements and put in place basi c operational structures. Networking and advocacy w ere not
their priorities. As well, the lack of decentralisa tion meant district government representatives were unable to
respond to CSO advocacy due to their lack of decisi on making authority. A number of assumptions made i n the
design were found to be incorrect. The CRS project d eveloped a series of booklets in three languages for capacity
building of CSOs which may be useful resources for future CSO strengthening initiatives.
The World Bank Community Empowerment Program (CEP) s et up local structures for delivery of small development
activities across the country in the first years po st-occupation. Like the previous two projects revie wed, assumptions
were made in the project design concerning civil so ciety roles and local desire and capacities to fulfil defined roles.
The CEP program set up parallel structures dominated by young educated people, who fulfilled local expectations
by consulting the existing local elders before maki ng a decision. The project evaluation found that str uctures must
reflect existing representational structures. The CE P tried to deliver speedy material assistance with robust
institutions of local governance that would ‘empowe r’ communities to tackle their own development. Ultimately the
pressure to meet their own time frames did not allo w a participatory development model to be implement ed
15.
These three projects reflected the donor perspective s of civil society capacity needs rather than those of local
people. Due to inadequate understanding of and consultation with local organisations and communities the projects
set up structures which were not sustainable. This e arly experience of development aid in Timor Leste se ts up a
challenge to the current program to draw unequivoca lly on the local perceptions of needs within the country, building
the program in such a way as to support and engage with local structures.
AusAID has supported a range of civil society stren gthening projects in the region which take a holistic approach to
strengthening of civil society. The Timor Leste NGO C apacity Building Scheme (ETCBS) in 2001-4 supported seven
Australian NGOs in partnership programs for capacit y building designed by ANGOs. The program was well r egarded
due to its accessibility, flexibility and responsiv eness to the needs. Most partnerships were already in place and
strengthened as a result, with working relationship s that were more or less equal in decision making a nd
responsibilities. A ‘learning by doing’ approach wa s seen as more effective than formal training progr ams. The
training was focussed on technical support for proj ect delivery, but left a gap in institutional development, gender
analysis, and participatory development amongst oth ers
16.
The Church Partnership Program (CPP) in PNG takes a mentoring approach to capacity development. ANGOs
work along side their local counterparts as mentors to build their skills. The mid term review found that long term
relationships between the partners and flexibility in approach were important factors which facilitate effective
outcomes. The program is highly valued and demonstra tes the importance of building on existing relationships for
effective mentoring relationships. Flexibility in ap proach was a key reason for success, with each part nership being
able to develop their own approaches over longer ti me frames provided by the partnership agreement wit h the
13 UNDP ‘Strengthening capacity of CSOs in local and national development processes for the achievement of MDGs in Timor
Leste’ 2003-2006. End of project evaluation by Sara Methven, INTRAC March 2006.
14 Catholic Relief Services ‘Engaging Civil Society Project’ 2002-2005. Final Project Evaluation May 200 5. 15 Community Empowerment and Local Governance Project (CEP) 2000-2005. Implementation Completion Report May 2005.
For discussion on CEP see Moxham (2004) ‘The World Bank in the land of kiosks: Community driven development in East
Timor’, Focus on the Global South; and Ospina & Hoh e (2002) ‘Traditional power structures
and local governance in East
Timor – a case study of the Community Empowerment P rogram’ Graduate Institute of Development Studies, Geneva.
16 East Timor NGO Capacity Building Scheme – Summary Report, March 2004 by N. Shatifan & A. da Cruz

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donor, AusAID. Nevertheless, different opinions wer
e expressed between the local and the international
organisations about the partnership. In this progra m, the PNG partners valued collaboration, sharing a nd the
process approach to the partnership, while the ANGO s focused more on the tasks and outcomes
17. Similarly
research in Cambodia found Australian NGOs referred to NGO ‘partners’ while local NGOs refer to the ANGOs as
‘donors’ to whom they were accountable. Even if the y received support and capacity building and encouragement
they rarely described the relationship as ‘partners hip’
18.
The Australia-Indonesia Community Development and Ci vil Society Scheme (ACCESS) in Indonesia and the
Community Development Scheme (CDS) in PNG have reco gnised the need to provide an accompanied process
of learning rather than short term skills training programs. In these programs project staff, mentors or field
workers accompany the process of skills implementat ion within the organisation’s structures, following defined steps
which ensure that good development practice is inte grated into their work in an incremental manner.
ACCESS
19 is a program which offers an integrated program of funding for local initiatives tied to processes that build
capacity of civil society organisations. These proc esses are established through well developed tools. Project
participants can contribute to the improvement and update of these tools through annual reviews. Work is carried
out by project staff both directly with communities and through local CSOs, using the ACCESS community led
assessment and community planning tools (CLAPP). The participation of marginalised groups in planning and
implementation has been supported by a gender and p overty inclusive (GPI) approach, and participatory monitoring
and evaluation tools have also been established. Th ese tools have been developed in Indonesian languag e which
may be usefully adapted for the specific context of Timor Leste.
Like ACCESS, the CDS program in PNG supports CSO st rengthening with funding opportunities. To ensure
appropriate funding for different organisations the project has multiple mechanisms of funding, includ ing Small
Grants Program, NGO Strengthening Program, Speciali sed Partners Program and Strategic Thinking and Learning
Program. CDS has achieved access to remote areas th rough the establishment of provincial ‘core groups’ and paid
field workers to implement the program at the local level
20.
Several programs have seen the importance of moving beyond project funding processes to engage with local
government and support linkages between CSOs and lo cal governance structures, including ACCESS and PACAP
in the Philippines. PACAP comprises two programs, t he Responsive Assistance Scheme (RAS) community
development project funding mechanism and the Focal Community Assistance Scheme (FOCAS) which engages
national stakeholders in a process of identificatio n, development and prioritisation of projects. FOCAS was found to
have developed ‘robust and influential partnerships ’ at senior governmental level, thus creating linkages between
community driven development and local government u nits. This approach has effectively bridged the gap between
capacity building of local government which has lon g been part of ‘good governance’ and the civil soci ety
strengthening forms of aid which have generally bee n supported independently of each other. It has become evident
that linking these sectors can better support effec tive government leadership of development
21 which in turn leads
to more sustainable development.
PNG, Indonesia and the Philippines are countries wi th many years of development experience and local a nd
regional government systems and mechanisms are more established for relating to civil society than in the case of
Timor Leste. The fourth government of RDTL has set an agenda of increasing its engagement with the population
and has expressed interest in working together with civil society. There is now a unique opportunity to work with
local government and CSOs to support the implementa tion of appropriate mechanisms for community engagement
and development processes. The ETCSSP will work not o nly to strengthen the capacity of CSOs to work with
communities, but also their ability to engage with government, and to extend knowledge of community le d processes
across the range of stakeholders.
17 PNG Church Partnership Program 2005-9. Mid-term R eview by L. Kelly, J. Cousins, M. Brash, May 2007. 18 Chapman & Kelly (2007) op. cit. 19 Australia-Indonesia Community Development and Civi l Society Scheme 2002-2007. Review of ACCESS By Ian Patrick and
Leya Cattleya June 2006.
20 Community Development Scheme 1999-2007, Final Eval uation Report, May 2007. 21 Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program 2005-2010. Mid-term review: Effectiveness and strategic direction.
AusAID September 2007.

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The desk review produced a number of lessons for ETCS
SP which are:
 A civil society strengthening program must be devel oped in response to the conditions of the country
context – models from elsewhere cannot be implement ed directly.
 An important quality in the success of partnership support programs has been flexibility in design whi ch has
enabled the projects to adapt to different agencies ’ ways of working.
 Project design must reflect CSO views of their role s and capacity strengthening objectives.
 Short term grant funding for project activities may not result in sustainable outcomes – support is ne eded
over a longer term.
 Organisational development support provided through existing long term partnership relationships to
complement project grant funding can provide a sign ificant increase in an organisation’s ability to operate
independently.
 Civil society strengthening activities need to be i mplemented at a pace appropriate to the local
organisations. The need to achieve project output ta rgets and timeframes can undermine the capacity
building processes.
 It is important to ensure that women are in the mai nstream of the development process and not sideline d to
gender specific issues.
 Community centred processes can be facilitated by p articipatory planning and monitoring tools for
continuous learning.
 Decentralisation of decision making can constructiv ely engage all stakeholders including government,
community and civil society. To be accepted, struct ures set up by programs must recognise the existing
structures within the society.
 Sustainable development activities can be supported by collaboration of multiple stakeholders at local,
regional and national levels. Civil society strengt hening strategies involving building linkages with local
government are effective.
 In Timor Leste capacity building has been overly foc ussed on technical skills for project implementation,
with less emphasis on organisational development su pport or community engagement for needs
assessment.

5. Existing AusAID and other donor/multilateral Programs
The goal of AusAID’s draft Australia-Timor Leste Deve lopment Assistance Strategy ‘to assist in the building of a
stable and prosperous Timor Leste’ , includes a commitment to ‘engage with civil society to promote peace and
reconciliation’. This program will engage with and support civil soc iety in contributing to the three strategic areas in
AusAID’s draft country strategy, namely ‘democracy, security and justice’; ‘economic development and
management’ ; and ‘better services for better lives’ . Importantly, as the new government of Timor Leste seeks to
deliver its program of decentralisation, a better f unctioning Civil Society offers a potentially impor tant mechanism for
linking communities into constructive policy dialog ue with the RDTL government.
AusAID has been a significant supporter of Timor Les te since 1999 with substantial resources allocated to capacity
building programs. While much of this aid has been focussed on the RDTL government, civil society secto r
programs such as the Timor Leste NGO Capacity Buildi ng Scheme (2001-4) and AusAID’s Timor Leste Communit y
Assistance Scheme (ETCAS) have been found to be time ly and effective, and highly regarded for their outreach to
NGOs, CBOs and church organisations in the district s. However, AusAID reporting processes have been fo und to
focus more on output indicators (quantitative indic ators) than processes and outcomes (qualitative ind icators). The
fund is considered by AusAID in Dili to be under-re sourced, and the need for capacity building support to local
organisation is well recognised but beyond the scop e of the program.
Caritas Australia plays an important role in engagi ng with the Catholic network of organisations as we ll as
supporting its own community development work, incl uding support of local CSOs particularly in Oecussi. The
Catholic Church was an important element in Timorese society during the occupation, providing both refuge for
individuals and public advocacy in support of liber ation. Many of the NGOs which started pre-1999 focu sed on
human rights issues and had close links to the chur ch. Since independence the moral authority of the c hurch has
diminished. The departure of Bishop Belo, followed b y the alignment of the church with an anti-government stance

10

since 2005 has resulted in many turning away from t
he church. The Timorese Catholic Church is fundament ally
conservative in its practice, with a strong adheren ce to hierarchy and the gender status quo, although it seeks
compromises with traditional leadership to accommod ate traditional spiritual practices alongside Catholic practices.
A report into how the Timorese Catholic Church can e ngage in development has found that the church has played
an invaluable role in the crises of 1999 and 2006, but that its aid tends to encourage passive recipients and
dependency. It suggests that the Catholic Church ne eds to reassert its pastoral role by listening to their parishioners
and empowering communities to engage with the devel opment processes taking place in the country
22. Caritas
Australia is engaged in supporting this process, an d plays an important developmental role within the church
network.
Amongst the Australian NGOs, Oxfam Australia stands out in having provided a significant amount of support to the
CSO sector, both to national NGOs and district base d CSOs. Its support of national NGOs including FONGTI L,
Rede Feto, Fokupers, and Hak is generally done in col laboration with other donors (notably Concern and CAFOD),
with each partner supporting part of the CSO’s mult i-year strategic plan. This arrangement provides stability for the
CSO while not creating a dependency on one donor or ganisation. In Cova Lima district where Oxfam Australia is
based, it has encouraged the development of a netwo rk of local CSOs through which it has facilitated support to a
range of small CSOs. In Oecussi District Oxfam supp orts similar work through REINO, a CSO network, tog ether with
Caritas Australia.
Concern is an Irish NGO which has a strong commitme nt to CSO capacity strengthening with district offices in Los
Palos and Same as well as Dili. It runs partnership programs over 4-6 years and provides mentoring for PRA and
integrated planning and action processes. Grants ar e approved by the district program team. Concern al so run their
own programs, with CSO participation, such that Con cern staff and CSO staff ‘make mistakes and learn together’.
Concern staff have a range of technical skills to s upport CSOs as needed. Concern often co-funds natio nal NGOs
with Oxfam Australia.
CRS current capacity support for CSOs is through ‘K manek CSO Support Project’ which operates in Lautem ,
Baucau, Viqueque, Liquica and Bobonaro Districts. I t has a focus on strengthening relations between lo cal
government and CSOs. CSOs can learn about how gover nment works and how they can get involved in the
decision making process. CSO partners are chosen ac cording to their vision and mission. An MOU defines how
much support they receive. Receipts must be provide d every month. A results framework format is used to identify
the impact in the community.
Like CRS, UNDP has followed up its earlier CSO capa city building program with a smaller and more focussed
program. Their civic education project entitled ‘Sup porting CSOs and promoting citizen participation’ supports CSO-
government dialogue with a community field worker i n each district, and provides small grants as well as training
about government institutions.
Belun is a well-resourced national NGO established and supported by Columbia University. It works in every district,
focusing on organisational strengthening for maximi sing resources and reducing tensions. Belun has est ablished
tools to support community planning and peace stren gthening work linking the community, Suco Council and
government. Small grants are provided. It holds a d atabase on CSOs around the country.
The German Government aid program GTZ has started a ne w Rural Development Program in Cova Lima and
Bobonaro districts focussing on increasing food sec urity in rural communities. Community development p lanning,
agricultural extension services and better infrastr ucture will be achieved through training and facili tating access to
government funds for decentralisation and agricultu re. Three local NGOs have been identified for delive ry of
components in community activities.
To date much advocacy work of the NGO sector has bee n based on an adversarial model, and has sometimes
come into conflict with local government representa tives who themselves have little experience or unde rstanding of
the role of civil society. In recent years party po litics has often dominated relationships between CS Os and
government. CSOs need to identify with their consti tuency and advocate for their constituency’s interests , rather
than present themselves as advocates against the government . Effective relationships between community, civil
22 Dr Annette Field ‘Acknowledging the past, shaping the future: How the churches and other religious communities are
contributing to Timor Leste’s development’, Caritas Australia, January 2008.

11

society and government need to be nurtured for civi
l society to play a constructive role in development in Timor
Leste.
6. Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (RDTL) programs
Fund for Civil Society Organisations, Office of the Prime Minist er: For the first time a government fund has
been allocated for the support of civil society org anisations (CSOs) under the office of the Prime Min ister. The $5
million fund aims to foster the institutional devel opment of CSOs to partner with government in develo pment. A
committee will be established including NGO represe ntatives and sectoral representation. At the time of writing, the
program was in planning, criteria were yet to be de veloped and staff yet to be recruited for program implementation
and monitoring.
Local Development Program : (Programa de Desenvolvimento Local – PDL) is part of the decentralisation process
run by the Ministry of State Administration, first piloted in one sub-district in Bobonaro in 2005. The following year
Los Palos become the second pilot. Aileu and Manatu to Districts initiated the decentralisation process in 2007, and
this year four more district administrations are be ing prepared for managing the decentralisation proc ess.
PDL funding is based on the district population, wi th $4 per capita (up from $2.50 last year) allocated. 30% of this
can be expended by the District Assembly, and the r emaining is for projects in the sub-districts. Two members from
each Suco Council participate in a Sub-District Ass embly, and representatives from the Sub Districts A ssembly
attend the District Assembly. Projects identified a t suco level are considered at the Sub-District Ass embly. Prioritised
projects will be forwarded to the District Assembly , where sub-district representatives must defend th e project for it
to be supported. Once funded, approved contractors will bid to implement the work. At the time of the consultation
preparations were being made for the training of di strict administration staff and suco leaders to engage in this
process.
The President’s Office : The President wishes to make an immediate respons e to the needs of the people, without
the delays that bureaucracy causes. The Civil Societ y Adviser to the President manages the requests from the
community. Since the start of this government in Au gust 16,000 requests for support have been received , of which
11,000 have been forwarded to the appropriate Minis try and 5,000 were awaiting processing. Since the courts ruled
that the President is not permitted to administer a budget from government, a Poverty Reduction Task Force has
been established to seek funds from donors and corp orations.
Ministry of Economy and Development: Funding for rural development is currently through the Ministry of State
Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture. Und er the Ministry of Economy and Development, the gov ernment will
set up a think tank to look at how to assist rural communities, particularly veterans, elders and IDPs , with the aim of
reducing tensions. The National Research and Develo pment Committee under this Ministry will also establish nine
sector working groups to revise work plans of the d ifferent sectors. In 2009 the World Bank funded National
Directorate for Rural Development which supports sm all enterprise development will be located within the Ministry of
Economy and Development. The National Directorate fo r Rural Development also supports the Institute of
Microfinance (IMFTL) for the provision of small loan s at low rates of interest.
Ministry of Agriculture : A Community Development Fund has been established with a budget of $10,000 allocated
to each Suco Council ‘to reduce poverty by supporti ng farmers groups develop self-sustainable agricultural activities
in rural areas’. Cash distribution of these funds s tarted prior to the 2007 elections (notably in Dili) causing many to
claim it was a vote buying exercise. Some districts such as Cova Lima established a process requiring a proposal to
be presented, and 40% of funding to be provided ini tially with the remainder given on completion. In Cova Lima
projects included purchase of goats or pigs for vul nerable families, constructing of roads to the fields, repair of
irrigation systems, reforestation projects. Some of these projects had been completed and suco leaders travelled to
Dili to collect the final payment.

12

Conclusions
Local CSOs often have difficulty accessing project
aid which requires English writing skills and an understanding
about how to write a project proposal. These are ski lls which CSOs most commonly seek to gain. Reviews of
AusAID’s civil society support programs identify or ganisational development needs such as developing a sense of
identity and mission, community mobilisation and pa rticipatory development practices, project planning, proposal
development, monitoring and evaluation, financial a ccountability as key areas for further capacity building. Another
consistent lesson is that ‘capacity building’ is to o often equated with training, whereas, capacity bu ilding only occurs
if the training is able to be implemented through c hanges in organisational practice.
The desk review conducted as part of this consultanc y demonstrated that project based aid has been found to have
constraints for effective development. Lessons from AusAID programs in Timor Leste, PNG, Indonesia, Phi lippines
and other countries consistently point to the need for greater focus on development outcomes rather th an project
outputs, and longer timeframes and greater flexibil ity for project implementation processes to meet lo cal, rather than
donor, expectations and enhance sustainability of t he outcomes.
Local CSOs have limited experience in development p rocesses in Timor Leste’s short history of independence.
There has, however, been little donor focus on assis ting organisations to develop projects through a process of
collaboration with the community who will benefit f rom the project. The CSO-donor relationship often ca uses the
CSO to give most of its attention to meeting donor reporting requirements, rather than focussing on the quality of
their development intervention.
An understanding of the role of CSOs as active play ers in the development context also requires a greater focus on
strengthening the relationships between CSOs and th e government. The community development skills of lo cal
CSOs will in the long term enable CSOs to play a co nstructive role in the processes of Suco project development
within the decentralisation process. Such engagemen t will contribute to their sustainability through diversification of
potential sources of funding.
A process-driven development model is required to e ngage program partners in learning and sharing to achieve a
development outcome. CSOs need support to better co ntribute to participatory development planning and
implementation of activities with communities. A pr ocess of learning-by-doing through mentoring can en hance CSO
skills in all aspects of the project cycle includin g participative goal setting and engaging the benef iciaries in all
aspects of proposal writing, budget management and report writing, monitoring and evaluation.
Given the very recent experience of development wor k in Timor Leste, a knowledge base of appropriate skills for
development practitioners should be institutionalis ed within Timorese universities or independent train ing providers.
NGO collaboration could contribute to developing ac cepted effective community development practices ap propriate
to Timor Leste based on community led, inclusive dev elopment. This will contribute to sustainable provision of
quality community development training within the c ountry.
Sustainability in civil society sector development is necessarily a multifaceted issue. NGOs generally lack security of
funding, yet internationally many have survived ove r the long term through short term development fund ing. It is
important that they can engage in dialogue with int ernational donor agencies and keep abreast of the c hanging
concepts of appropriate and effective practices in development to provide enhanced organisational abil ity. The key
to sustainability for CSOs is to be able to assist communities articulate the voice of the most disadv antaged in the
society, and to be able to demonstrate the ability support communities to work with governments and ou tside
support agencies more effectively and appropriately .