Building capacity in Timor-Leste

13 March 2009

The Office of Global health launches its new Timor-Leste Health Leadership Program

The first four people to participate in the Office of Global Health’s Timor-Leste Health Leadership Program arrive in Sydney at the end of March, for up to twelve weeks of intensive training.

The Leadership Program is a new and exciting initiative of the Office of Global Health. It was established with the aim of building health capacity in a country which has some of the worst health statistics in the world. The Office of Global Health secured funding this year for the program through AusAID’s Australian Leadership Award (ALAF).

All four of the first Timor-Leste Fellows to participate already occupy significant roles in their country’s health system. They were selected from an outstanding pool of candidates, submitted by key health institutions in Timor, because of their leadership potential.

The goal of the Timor-Leste Health Leadership Program is to identify and train current and future leaders in health care, health management, health policy, and health education. Candidates are provided six-to-twelve week placements in Australia, in institutions and organisations that can offer practical training in their field. Programs have been developed individually, with emphasis on exposing participants to methods, theories, techniques and approaches that they can implement and use to train and lead others when they return to Timor-Leste.

The first four Fellows arriving on the 26th March are:

• Mr Joaquim F Soares - Director, Klibur Domin Tibar (Rehabilitation Centre)
• Dr Lucio F Babo Soares – Senior Dentist, Centro Community Health Centre
• Mr Maximiano Neno – Director, Oecusse Regional Hospital
• Mr Moises Andrade - Nursing Director, Maubisse Hospital

L-R: Max Neno, Joaquim Soares, Moises Andrade and Lucio Babo Soares and Consul General Abel Guterres		L-R: Dilhani Bandaranayake, Max Neno, Joaquim Soares, Bruce Robinson, Moises Andrade, Lucio Babo Soares and Consul General Abel Guterres