"Young people are used, just like stepping stones in the river, so the leaders can get what they want (and never get their feet wet)."

Like Stepping Stones in the River: Youth Perspectives on the crisis in Timor-Leste is a fascinating research report to be launched today by international development agency Plan and the University of New South Wales, which documents for the first time how the youth of East Timor feel about the civil unrest in their homeland, their participation in the crisis and what the future holds for their community.

This report is the first to give voice to the youth of East Timor since the civil unrest began in April/May 2006. The report will be officially presented to the President of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos Horta, with the hope that the government will reflect, investigate and most importantly act on the report’s groundbreaking findings.

More than 450 East Timorese youth aged between 15-25 years from Dili and the surrounding districts participated in the research, sharing their experiences and ideas on the civil unrest. The purpose of the report’s research is to highlight how they (East Timorese youth) understand the crisis, what they think were the causes, who they think was responsible for its beginnings, and what they think people were (and still are) fighting about.

Like Stepping Stones in the River: Youth Perspectives on the crisis in Timor-Leste research report was designed to provide an opportunity for young people in East Timor:

• to reflect on their experiences during and after the conflict
• to document positive ways in which youth are responding to displacement and supporting their families and communities during the crisis
• to examine how youth resilience can be further strengthened.

The research report is presented in two sections. The first section 'Hidden Agendas' documents how young people are making sense of the violence, of the Lorosa’e/Loro monu (east/west) division, the martial arts problems – and in particular how they view the actions of their leaders.  The second section 'Our Time' will present a collection of fictional stories youth developed to explain how the crisis has impacted the lives of young people.

Some of the interesting views and research findings presented in the report based on discussions with the youth participants include:

• leaders authored the crisis, not the young people of East Timor
• most youth have not participated in the violence, youth say only between 10-25% of young people in Dili have been involved
• motivations for participation in the crisis include, poverty/personal grievances
• youth do want security, justice and a resolution to the crisis
• the crisis has impacted all youth and their time as young people is being lost
• young people are looking for ways to contribute to peace
• the youth demand the leaders who authored the crisis take lead in solving it
• youth provided suggestions as to how they can be represented effectively and how their voices can be heard now and in the future to improve their community participation.

Plan Timor-Leste, Country Director, Tim Budge, said the report is unique in that the research was not defined around certain 'topics' but was designed to let young people speak about the issues that were of concern to them.

"In line with Plan’s global commitment to processes that fully involve children and young people in their own development, the research report allowed and documented young people’s expressions about their hopes, concerns and opinions about their future and the roles young people can play in community recovery.

The research methods were designed to be qualitative, creative and orientated to allow young people to be properly heard. We hope that the report will be read carefully, the intentions, concerns, needs and dreams of young people heard and that the youth’s words resonate until they lead to action."

Natalie Grove, Author of Like Stepping Stones in the River: Youth Perspectives on the crisis in Timor-Leste and researcher from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales said the words, ideas and needs of the young people involved in the research, requires a strong, practical and committed response.

"This response needs to come from many sources, from government, NGOs, donors and from youth organisations and individual young people. In the report there is a mixture of voices. Certainly youth here feel profoundly let down by their leaders but they’re also acknowledging that everyone has to take responsibility now.

Despite what has happened, young people are optimistic about the future. They want to find ways to work together for peace and they want to ensure they don’t inherit a culture of violence and revenge. We can see in this work how articulately and passionately they discuss these issues – there is so much energy, hope and commitment that needs to be harnessed."

The report’s research was undertaken by Natalie Grove from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales in partnership with Kiera Zen from ET Insight (a local research NGO) and Plan Timor-Leste. The report was funded by Plan Timor-Leste, with support from Plan Australia (through AusAid) and Plan Finland (through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland).

Youth say talking is easy, but "there must be peace in the heart not just in the mouth."

Further Information

To obtain a copy of the report or to arrange an interview with Tim Budge while he is in Australia from Monday 16th – Wednesday 18th July 2007, please contact:

Emma Smith           
03 9672 3652 / 0409 004 372

Tim Cansfield-Smith
03 9672 3656 / 0411 642 194

Notes to Editors

1. Report data was collected over four months from November 2006 – February 2007. A qualitative framework was employed and research methods were chosen to maximise open discussion. Youth participants were sought via schools, bairos, IDP camps and youth organisations.
   
   
2. About Plan: Plan International Australia is part of Plan globally, which works with children in 66 countries to address the causes of poverty and the consequences for children’s lives.  Plan has no religious or political affiliations. Plan recognises that making real improvements in children’s lives means working both locally and globally on the underlying causes of poverty in the developing world. Plan is a member of the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY coalition and works within Australia to raise awareness of the issues of poverty in the developing world and what we can all do to be a part of the solution.