Milena Pires is an East Timorese politician and women's rights activist who served as director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in East Timor. Since 2016, she has been the Permanent Representative of East Timor to the United Nations.
Pires was born on 19 June 1966 in Dili, Portuguese Timor. Her family went into exile in Australia when Pires was nine years old, during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. She studied sociology and English literature, receiving a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England. [1]
Pires has been active in the East Timorese independence movement since 1989. She was Deputy Speaker of the National Council during the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor. [2] She is a member of the Social Democratic Party. From 2001 to 2002 she was a member of the Constituent Assembly and helped to draft the Constitution of East Timor. [1] She then became a member of the first National Parliament. In 2002, Pires was campaign director for President of East Timor, Xanana Gusmão. On 27 August 2007, she was elected a member of the National Council by the National Parliament.
Pires is a member of a number of national and international organisations advocating for women's rights and has worked with the UN to produce numerous reports on women's rights. She received funding from the Catholic Institute for International Relations to research domestic violence in East Timor. [3] From 2002 to 2007 she was director of the UNIFEM offices in East Timor. [1] In 2010, she was elected to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against women, serving until 2014. [4] She was a founding member of the Centre for Women and Gender. [1] She has written articles on domestic violence and women's rights.
On 12 April 2016, Pires was appointed by President Taur Matan Ruak as East Timor's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. [1]
Pires is married to former Foreign Minister and CPLP Executive Secretary Zacarias da Costa and they have one son. [1] Her brother was killed by militia in the Suai Church massacre in 1999. [5]
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East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. The country comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor and the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco. The first inhabitants are thought to be descendant of Australoid and Melanesian peoples. The Portuguese began to trade with Timor by the early 16th century and colonised it throughout the mid-century. Skirmishing with the Dutch in the region eventually resulted in an 1859 treaty for which Portugal ceded the western half of the island. Imperial Japan occupied East Timor during World War II, but Portugal resumed colonial authority after the Japanese surrender.
The national flag of East Timor is one of the official symbols of East Timor. It consists of a red field with the black isosceles triangle based on the hoist-side bearing a white five-pointed star in the center superimposed on the larger yellow triangle, also based on the hoist-side, that extends to the center of the flag.
Francisco Xavier do Amaral was an East Timorese politician. A founder of the Frente Revolucionária de Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin), Amaral was sworn in as the first President of East Timor when the country, then a Portuguese colony, made a unilateral declaration of independence on 28 November 1975. He was a member of the National Parliament for the Timorese Social Democratic Association from 2001 until his death in 2012. Amaral was also known as "Abo (Grandfather) Xavier", a term of endearment, by East Timorese.
The Social Democratic Party is an East Timorese party founded on 20 September 2000. Despite its name, the party, like its Portuguese model, is usually categorised as centre-right in the political spectrum. It describes itself as being in the middle between left and right (centrist). The aim of the party's founders was to offer voters a moderate alternative to Fretilin and UDT. In 2002, the party had 8,000 members. Since then, the PSD has lost its importance. The PSD did not contest the 2023 parliamentary elections in East Timor.
East Timor was a de facto province of Indonesia that existed between 1976 and 1999 during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Its territory corresponded to the previous Portuguese Timor and to the present-day independent country of Timor-Leste.
Zacarias Albano da Costa is an East Timorese politician and diplomat. On 8 August 2007, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs following the 2007 parliamentary election. Before being appointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Minister da Costa was a Member of Parliament and Leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Bench at the Parliament. In addition to his ministerial role, he is currently Chairman of the National Council of the PSD.
The Indonesian occupation of East Timor began in December 1975 and lasted until October 1999. After centuries of Portuguese colonial rule in East Timor, the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal led to the decolonisation of its former colonies, creating instability in East Timor and leaving its future uncertain. After a small-scale civil war, the pro-independence Fretilin declared victory in the capital city of Dili and declared an independent East Timor on 28 November 1975.
East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, of which the western half is administered by Indonesia, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-western half, and the minor islands of Atauro and Jaco. Australia is the country's southern neighbour, separated by the Timor Sea. The country's size is 14,874 square kilometres (5,743 sq mi). Dili is its capital and largest city.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in East Timor face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in East Timor, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.
Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno is an East Timorese politician and diplomat, and a member of the Fretilin political party.
The East Timorese people mixed racially with Melanesian and Malay genetically. Most of the East Timorese population are Roman Catholic.
East Timor–India relations are the international relations that exist between East Timor and India. The Embassy of India in Jakarta, Indonesia is concurrently accredited to East Timor. East Timor has no diplomatic representation in India. On 7 September 2023, India has announced to open an embassy in Dili.
Bella Galhos is a former East Timorese independence activist during the period of Indonesian occupation of East Timor and has been a translator, presidential advisor, human rights activist and environmentalist since independence in 2002.
Maria Madalena Brites Boavida is an East Timorese politician, a member of FRETILIN, and a former Minister of Planning and Finance in the National Parliament of East Timor.
Ilda Maria da Conceição, whose resistance names were Lalo Imin and Wairaha Gae Imin, is a politician from East Timor. She is a member of the FRETILIN party.
Rosária Maria Corte-Real was the Minister of Education and Culture in East Timor from 2006 to 2007. She was also responsible for youth and sports. She is a member of FRETILIN.
Aurora Ximenes is an East Timorese politician. She is a member of the FRETILIN party.
Maria Domingas Fernandes Alves, nickname Mana (sister) Micato or Mikato, resistance name Beta Mau, is a women's rights activist, former resistance fighter, civil servant and non-party politician from East Timor. From 2007 to 2012 she was Minister of Social Solidarity.
Dionísio da Costa Babo Soares is an East Timorese politician, and a member of the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT). From June 2018 to May 2020, he was the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, under the VIII Constitutional Government of East Timor; he had earlier served as Minister of State, Coordinator of State Administration Affairs and Justice, Minister of State Administration, and Minister of Justice.
United Nations Administered East Timor refers to the period between 25 October 1999 and 20 May 2002 when East Timor was administered by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor as a United Nations protectorate.