Biography - Adaljiza Magno

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE

FRETILIN

Biography
2 October 2007

Adaljiza Magno

Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno was born in Baguia, January 7,
1975 to Ana Xavier G. Magno and Alberto dos Reis Magno. Adaljiza was
only 11 months when Indonesia invaded Timor-Leste. Her family escaped
to Mount Matebian with FRETILIN for 4 years before returning to Baguia
in 1979. In 1980 they surrendered to the Indonesia army due to the
food scarcity and malnutrition at that time.

Adaljiza married Rosantino Amado Hei dos Anjos in October 2003. The
couple has one baby daughter, Rosejiza Nabilan Magno Hei.

Adaljiza is a FRETILIN member and was the former Vice Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in the First and Second Constitutional
Governments and acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in
the Third Constitutional Government.

Education and Qualifications

Adaljiza attended primary school from 1982-87, pre-secondary school
from 1987-90 and secondary school from 1990-93 in Dili. She graduated
with a degree in Economics from the Sebelas Maret National University,
Surakarta, Indonesia.

Professional Career

Adaljiza was elected to represent FRETILIN in the Constituent Assembly
in September 2001 to May 2002, and served in the first National
Parliament from 2002 until July 2005. At 26 years old Adaljiza was
the youngest member of the Constituent Assembly. Adalgiza was also
appointed the Secretary of the National Parliament's Committee of
Economic and Finance.

In 2005, Adaljiza attended the 4th meeting of the CPLP Parliament and
she has attended several meetings related to the Petroleum Fund
organized by NORAD in Oslo, Norway.

In July 2005 Adaljiza was appointed the Vice Minister of Foreign
Affairs and Cooperation in the First Constitutional Government and at
30 years of age, was the youngest member of the government.

Political Activities

Before being elected to the Constituent Assembly, Adaljiza was one of
Timor-Leste's vocal women activists. She became involved in the
student movement for Timor-Leste's independence whilst completing her
university studies in Indonesia.

Adaljiza was a member of the Catholic Students of the Republic of
Indonesia Organization (PMKRI) in Surakarta from 1993 to 1998 and she
joined the SAHE Study Club based in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1998. It was
during this time that Adaljiza and her colleagues also established the
Communication Forum for Timor Lorosae's Women (FORELSAN), in
Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Adaljiza returned to Timor-Leste in 1999 during the UN supervised
independence referendum. When the result was announced, the
pro-autonomy militias with Indonesian military support systematically
carried out an intense campaign of violence and intimidation that
resulted in major destruction of Timor-Leste; the displacement of
hundreds of thousands of civilians; and in over a thousand citizens
killed. Adaljiza and her family were among those forced to flee across
the border to Kupang in West Timor. They remained in the refugee camps
there for a week, before moving to Bali as a result of continued
militia intimidation of the refugees. Adaljiza and her family returned
to Timor-Leste after the arrival of the UN endorsed International
Peace Keeping Force in October 1999.

Following Timor-Leste's independence from Indonesian military
occupation, Adaljiza resumed her activism. Her commitment to working
for social change, justice and the restoration of people's dignity
mixed with her capability and analytical mind led her to be selected
to represent the Timor Labor Union at the 88th Session of the ILO
International Labor Conference in Geneva, Switzerland in 2000. During
that same year she was a representative of the NGO East Timor Action
Network (ETAN) on a speaking tour that visited 22 states in the USA.
She delivered lectures in various universities including Yale
University, Colombia University, Stanford University, University of
California at Berkeley, and City University of New York on topics such
as the East Timorese independence struggle, women's issues and
justice.

In 1999 Adaljiza co-founded the 'Sahe Institute for Liberation' (SIL),
a popular education NGO in Dili and remained with SIL until 2001 when
she was elected to the Constituent Assembly. She was the Head of
Advocacy Division in SIL from June 1999-September 2001. In November
1999 Adaljiza was a volunteer with HAK, a human rights association, as
their Popular Education Coordinator until June 2000. Adaljiza lectured
in Human Rights at the National University of Timor-Leste (UNTL) in
2000.

From November 1999 until June 2000, Adaljiza joined the advocacy
division of the local NGO, the Communication Forum for East Timor
Women (FOKUPERS). In 2001, she was appointed to the organizing
committee to establish Rede Feto Timor-Leste (East Timor Women's
Network). She acted as a consultant to UNFPA from June-August 2001 on
the report on Domestic Violence in Timor-Leste.

Adaljiza currently serves as a Board member of two civil society
organisations, namely HAK Association from 2002 till 2006 and FOKUPERS
from 2004 until 2007. This year, she represented the civil society
organizations at the 3rd East Timor donors meeting in Canberra,
Australia.

In 2003, Adaljiza represented FRETILIN in an exchange program to the
People's Republic of China, which focused on politics, culture,
economics, and history.

Adaljiza has also written various published articles on justice, women
and the economy.

Adaljiza is fluent in Tetum, Portuguese and Macasae (dialect from
Baucau) Bahasa Indonesia, and English.