Forces must know the people: first lady: [2 All-round First Edition]
Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 04 Sep 2006: 4.
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Abstract
Ms [KIRSTY Sword Gusmao] attended a fundraising ball for the Humpty Dumpty Foundation, which buys medical equipment for children’s hospitals, including those in East Timor.
Major [Alfredo Reinado] has criticised East Timor’s justice system, comments echoed by Ms Sword Gusmao yesterday.
Ms Sword Gusmao said that among the many problems facing East Timor — one of the poorest countries on earth with an average income of 65c a day and the world’s highest fertility rates, with an average of eight children per woman — she was most concerned about a looming humanitarian crisis in the country’s refugee camps, which currently house more than 100,000 people.
Full Text
KIRSTY Sword Gusmao, the Australian-born wife of the East Timorese President, has spoken with compassion of the hopes and concerns of her adopted country.
Her husband, Xanana Gusmao, welcomed the presence of Australian forces in East Timor, she said, but she questioned whether they had sufficient local knowledge to end the conflict in her country.
“It’s difficult because a lot of these forces have very little local knowledge,” she told a charity launch in Sydney.
“They are not getting into the places where people live.”
Ms Sword Gusmao attended a fundraising ball for the Humpty Dumpty Foundation, which buys medical equipment for children’s hospitals, including those in East Timor.
Her visit follows yet another outbreak of violence in the capital, Dili, on Friday which saw gangs armed with machetes roam thestreets as the search continued for rebel leader Alfredo Reinado and 56 other prisoners who escaped from a city jail last week.
Major Reinado has criticised East Timor’s justice system, comments echoed by Ms Sword Gusmao yesterday.
“Our needs across the board are huge: the justice sector is only one of them,” she said.
“Reinado’s concerns about the justice system resonate with a lot of people. This is a concern of all of us. It takes time in East Timor, when you are grappling with so many difficult problems, such as human resources. Our justice sector has been the weakest sector to date because of a lack of trained human resources.
“In expressing his frustration at the lack of movement in terms of our justice system, it is a concern that many people have.”
Ms Sword Gusmao said that among the many problems facing East Timor — one of the poorest countries on earth with an average income of 65c a day and the world’s highest fertility rates, with an average of eight children per woman — she was most concerned about a looming humanitarian crisis in the country’s refugee camps, which currently house more than 100,000 people.
“They have only very limited access to drinking water, to food, to activities,” she said.
“I am particularly concerned about the potential health crisis that looms when the rainy season commences in a couple of months. That concerns me greatly, particularly the health consequences for women and their children.
“My mind boggles (when I think about) how women with small children are surviving in those circumstances. Life is a daily struggle to survive.”
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