Venidora Oliveira – Secretary of State for the Socio-Economic Support of Women (SEM) has provided training to policewomen to help improve their leadership and public speaking skills.

The head of SEM's training department, Filomena Martins, said the main objective of the training was to improve the decision-making abilities of policewomen in senior positions.

The training also covered public speaking, which focused on how women could boost their confidence and structure discussions. "The training is very important because some of them (participants) are holding the position of commander," Martins said.

She acknowledged that it remained difficult for women working within the PNTL to make decisions due to the hierarchical system in place, but called on the institution to give more consideration to decisions made by female commanders. SEM is now working with UN Women and civil society to advocate on women's issues.

The training was held over a one-week period and participants were based at police stations in 13 different municipalities.

She said the same training would be provided to women serving in the Timor-Leste Defence Force (F-FDTL), so that they were also well informed on such issues.

Pante Makassar station Commander in the Oecusse region, Inspector Adelaide de Rosa said she was proud that through the training policewomen would now have a better understanding of the decision-making process.

She said policewomen could also feel more confident when speaking at any forum or leading a discussion. "We can get benefits from the training [and] I will share the information with other women who have not been able to take a part," she said.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/gender/14401-policewomen-receive-leadership-training