DILI, 21 June 2024 – The ASEAN Travelling Resource Persons Programme supported by Australia, through the Aus4ASEAN Futures initiative, is a six-month programme designed to enhance the expertise of Timorese government officials on the work of ASEAN. The programme aims to provide in-depth knowledge and capacity-building training focused on the three ASEAN Community pillars: ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC).
To date, four missions under the APSC pillar have been organised to provide relevant briefings for the government officials of Timor-Leste. The first three briefings were conducted in November 2023, December 2023, and March 2024 respectively, facilitated by ASEAN Secretariat’s (ASEC) sectoral desks handling APSC matters.
The fourth and final mission under the APSC pillar took place on 19-21 June in Dili, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of (MOFAC) Timor-Leste, in collaboration with ASEC. The session focused on ASEAN Development Cooperation and ASEAN Cooperation Project (ACP), cooperation mechanisms and procedures, and the ASEAN Project Management Framework.
Elisa Maria da Silva, Director General for ASEAN Affairs of MOFAC Timor-Leste, officially opened the three-day briefing. In her opening remarks, she highlighted the importance of enhancing capacity building of the Timorese government officials in becoming future proponents of ACPs.
The three-day briefing provided an overview on the ACP, the ASEAN reference documents, relevant stakeholders of ACP, development cooperation mechanisms between ASEAN and its external partners, and the available project funds, including the mechanisms to access these funds.
The session continued with information sharing on ACP Funding Mechanisms and Modalities, ACP Cycle (project proposal formulation, appraisal and approval, implementation and monitoring, and completion and reporting), and the required processes.
Additionally, the briefing included a session on Results-Based Management (RBM), an approach pivotal in designing and implementing ACPs. This session highlighted the importance of integrating RBM principles throughout the ACP cycle to address complex regional issues. A presentation on the ACP Project Proposal Template was also delivered covering all sections of the template.
Timorese officials representing the APSC, AEC, and ASCC pillars participated in three different days of the programme. They actively engaged by asking numerous questions focusing on formulating indicators to measure project success and developing high-quality regional project proposals to secure funding from ASEAN’s external partners. The ASEC delegation were received by Milena Rangel, Vice-Minister for ASEAN Affair of MOFAC Timor-Leste. She expressed further hope for Timor-Leste to continue participating ASEAN activities and meetings, and looked forward to continued support from ASEC.
