Paulina Quintao – The Alola Foundation has called on women's weaving groups to preserve and maintain the originality of tais traditions as part of the country's identity.

Director of the Alola Foundation Alzira Reis said that some foreign companies were copying common tais patterns to respond to market needs.

Paulina Quintao – Eight candidates have confirmed that they will be contesting this year's presidential election after fulfilling the criteria, including the required number of supporters.

Stephen de Tarczynski, Melbourne – Juvinal Dias has first-hand experience of mistreatment at the hands of a foreign power. Born in 1981 in Tutuala, a village in the far east of Timor-Leste, Dias' family fled into the jungle following the 1975 invasion by Indonesia.

It was during this time, hiding from the Indonesian military, that his eldest sister died of malnutrition.

East Timor Prime Minister Dr Rui Araujo is visiting this week to mark what Prime Minister Bill English said was the "evolving relationship" between the two countries.

Araujo was a student at Otago University in the late 1990s and will revisit his old stamping ground as well as meeting with English.

Paulina Quintao – Budget delays are impeding preparations by the Secretariat for Technical and Electoral Administration (STAE) for the upcoming presidential election, scheduled for March 20 so that STAE could be adequately prepared in time for the election.

Sometimes communities can decide to support a project that can really make a difference to the lives of others.

That's what happened last year when a 40 foot container packed tight with surplus medical equipment from the new Forbes and Parkes Hospitals, and other donated items, was delivered by sea to Dili, capital of Timor-Leste.

David Hutt – Politicians must sometime feel as though they can never win. For most of the last 15 years since Timor-Leste gained its independence, it has been marred by political division and partisanship, which exploded violently in 2006 when a dispute between regional officers in the military escalated into nationwide unrest.

Venidora Oliveira – The Head of the Falintil-Timor-Leste Defense Force (F-FDTL), Major General Lere Anan Timor, has called on the government to establish a military court.

Venidora Oliveira – The Japanese government has committed to continue supporting training programs for the Falintil-Timor-Leste Defense Force (F-FDTL).

Australia can't lecture anyone on a solution for the South China Sea until it sorts out its own long-running sea border dispute with East Timor where $40 billion in oil and gas resources is in play.

VNA – Vietnam will create best possible conditions for enterprises from Timor Leste to operate in the country, affirmed Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Paulina Quintao – A new report shows that most midwives in Timor-Leste still have little knowledge about the country's domestic violence law.

Paulina Quintao – Women's activists are concerned that Timor-Leste's patriarchal system is a barrier to the promotion of gender equality as society continues to consider it a part of the culture.

Presidential adviser Idelta Maria Rodrigues said Timor-Leste's constitution guarantees women's participation in political, economic and social life.

Paulina Quintao – Timor-Leste continues to face big challenges in reducing HIV infection rates as many communities in rural areas still lack understanding about the risks and how the virus is transmitted.

Victims of serious human rights violations committed during the Indonesian occupation (1975-1999) continued to demand justice and reparations. Security forces were accused of unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests, and arbitrarily restricting the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly.

Background

Emma Rumney – Falling health funding in Timor-Leste must be met with better planning and policies to manage rising costs, the World Bank has said.

The south-east Asian nation has made notable strides in its health system since gaining independence from Indonesia in 2002, at which time it had just 20 doctors for a population of one million.

Paulina Quintao – The Disabilities Association of Timor-Leste (ADTL) has called on the government to create better infrastructure to ensure people with disabilities are able to take part in this year's general election as is their right.

Paulina Quintao – According to data from the 2015 household census, 40,000 people in Timor-Leste (32%) still defecate in public as they don't have access to a toilet.

While the numbers have declined since the 2010 census, which showed that 39% of the population was publicly defecating, more work still needs to be done to ensure every community has access to toilets.

While plans to build a major cement project in Timor-Leste have brought the welcome promise of jobs for local people, the environmental and social costs could be catastrophic.

Venidora Oliveira – The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) has established Timor-Leste Coffee Producers Association (APKTL), aimed at controlling the price of coffee in the country.

Minister Estanislau da Silva said the government also planned to set price of coffee based on international standards as currently there was a lack of certainty in relation to quality and price.

Paulina Quintao – Although the number of Timorese women in the business sector remains small, more are getting involved as a way of improving their family's economic situation.

Anne Barker – East Timor's former finance minister and dual Australian citizen Emilia Pires is fighting to have her name cleared over charges she corruptly awarded a $1 million contract to her husband's company in Melbourne.

Time to Draw the Line
Directed by Amanda King & Fabio Cavadini
2016, 58 minutes
Released February 20 on the Demand.Film platform

A new documentary examines the largely overlooked story of the dispute between Australia and its near neighbour – the new state of East Timor.

Venidora Oliveira – A local NGO is concerned that officers from the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) are misusing their weapons and not handing in their guns after they finish work as required.

Despite claims of progress and reform, East Timor's government is not putting the needs of its population first in planning for a future without oil propping up its economy. That decision blights the lives of many ordinary citizens.

Timor-Leste has terminated one of its maritime treaties with Australia in a bid to find common ground over the disputed Greater Sunrise gas field. But will the move backfire? Rebecca Strating assesses the chances of a resolution to the long-running boundary disagreement.

The descent into A-grade Oceania begins barely an hour outside the Australian mainland. Silvery clouds, deep shades of green-blue ocean, and miles-long beaches appear against a backdrop of huge mountains cradling the capital, Dili.

Paulina Quintao – The government is still unable to calculate annual medical supply needs accurately as hospitals are not providing a daily record of stock quantities and usage.

Minister of Health Maria do Ceo Sarmento Pina da Costa acknowledged that medication supply was an ongoing issue that the ministry still needed to resolve.

Paulina Quintao, – Former comfort woman Ines Magalhaes Goncalves travelled to Japan late last year to give testimony at an international conference on human rights about the crimes committed against her by Japanese soldiers in Timor-Leste during World War II (1942-1945).

East Timor and Australia have agreed to a new maritime border which would give East Timor control of a $40 billion oil field. But not everyone is happy.

Sara Everingham – East Timor's former president Jose Ramos-Horta says after spending months considering whether to run in the country's next presidential election, he has decided to sit it out and make way for new leaders.

Ben Doherty – Timor-Leste has withdrawn its Australian espionage claims in the permanent court of arbitration as a "confidence-building measure", as the two countries continue to negotiate over their maritime border.In 2013 it was revealed the Australian government had bugged the Dili cabinet room of the Timor-Leste government in 2004 – under the guise of Australian aid-sponsored renovations.

Sara Everingham – A week of conciliation talks ends in East Timor dropping its spying case against Australia as part of negotiations to resolve the long-running dispute over permanent maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea.

Venidora Oliveira – The majority of illegal fishermen in the Timor Sea detected during operations by the Maritime Police come from Indonesia.

The Commander of the Maritime Police, Superintendent Linho Saldanha said many illegal boats have been captured since they started operations.

Paulina Quintao – The salt brand Kapal which is produced in Indonesia and has been available in Timor-Leste for many years is intended to be used in pig feed rather than human consumption.

Paulina Quintao – The Timor-Leste government has yet to build a statue honoring women who struggled for the country's independence.

The Secretary of State for the Socio-Economic Support of Women (SEM), Veneranda Lemos, said the government has plans to build the statue, but the project had not got off the ground because of a lack of funding.

Tricia Aquino, Manila – The Philippines should use its chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year to accelerate the membership of East Timor in the 10-member regional bloc.

This is according to M.C. Abad, Jr., the former director of the ASEAN Regional Forum, housed in the ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Paulina Quintao – Data shows that 20% of Timorese companies producing bottled water do not meet international standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Felicity James – A survey of households in Timor-Leste has found most people in the country's capital Dili fear eviction from their land in the next five years.

Land conflict and dispossession in the country are "dormant giants" and pose an increasing threat to stability, according to an Asia Foundation report.

Paulina Quintao – The falling price of coffee makes has saddened growers in Ermera municipality who are struggling to improve their lives and send their children to school.

The President of Ermera municipality authority, Jose Martinho do Santos Soares, said the coffee price is a perennial problem for farmers, which has not been tackled so far.

Paulina Quintao – Many young women are marrying early due to a lack of adequate information about sexual and reproductive health issues.

Secretary of State for Youth and Sport (SEJD) Leovigildo da Costa Hornai said one of the most significant obstacles faced by young women was early pregnancy.

Paulina Quintao – The National Parliament has approved proposed law no. 26/III/2015 on the prevention and fight against human trafficking. Of the 64 MPs, 34 were present, with 32 voting in favor, two abstentions and none against.

Josephite nun and human rights advocate Josephite Sister Susan Connelly has urged Australians to maintain pressure on the Federal Government to negotiate a fair maritime boundary with East Timor.

Thomas Ora, Dili, Timor Leste – Nothing unusual happened when Aitarak – not his real name – moved from Timor-Leste to Malang in Indonesia's East Java province to study law, three years before the country's independence referendum.

Bernardo Almeida, Todd Wassel – Voters in Timor-Leste will head to the polls twice this year for presidential elections in March and parliamentary elections in July – in what will be the first such elections to be held since the UN Mission departed in 2012.

Dili (AFP) – East Timor will hold a presidential election on March 20, an official said on Wednesday (Jan 18), and Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta may try to make a comeback as head of state.

It will be the third presidential vote in the tiny half-island nation since it won independence in 2002 following a brutal, 24-year occupation by neighbouring Indonesia.

David Hutt – With much of the population living in poverty and oil wealth running dry, Timor-Leste's upcoming elections could be the public's most important decision since independence

Timor-Leste goes to the polls in 2017 with little in the way of a genuine policy debate. The political scene is dominated by former revolutionary leaders and the jostling between them.

Frank Brennan – Without any media fanfare, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop published a statement on 9 January 2017 announcing that Australia and Timor Leste had agreed to terminate the 2006 Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS).

Hands up anyone who believes that the Sunrise gas project in the waters that separate Australia from East Timor will be developed in their lifetime, a challenge that Slugcatcher extends to any children who might be reading this column?