Milena Pires is an

East Timorese East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-wester ...

politician and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

activist who served as director of the

United Nations Development Fund for Women The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, french: Fonds de développement des Nations unies pour la femme, ) was established in December 1976 originally as the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women in the International ...

(UNIFEM) in East Timor. Since 2016, she has been the

Permanent Representative A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country’s diplomatic mission to an international organisation. Organizations that receive permanent representatives from their member states include the United Nations, the World Tr ...

of East Timor to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Early life and education

Pires was born on 19 June 1966 in

Dili Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the ...

. Her family went into exile in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

when Pires was nine years old, during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. She studied sociology and English literature, receiving a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from the University of New England.

Career

Pires has been active in the East Timorese independence movement since 1989. She was Deputy Speaker of the National Council during the

United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), ( pt, Administração Transitória das Nações Unidas em Timor Leste), was a United Nations mission in East Timor that aimed to solve the decades long East Timorese cri ...

. She is a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

. From 2001 to 2002 she was a member of the Constituent Assembly and helped to draft the

Constitution of East Timor The Constitution of East Timor entered into force on 20 May 2002, and was the country's first constitution after it gained independence from Portugal in 1975 and from Indonesia, which invaded East Timor on 7 December 1975 and left in 1999 followi ...

. She then became a member of the first

National Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. In 2002, Pires was campaign director for

President of East Timor The president of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste ( pt, Presidente da República Democrática de Timor-Leste; tet, Prezidente Republika Demokratika Timor-Leste) is the head of state of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste. The executiv ...

Xanana Gusmão José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. A former rebel, he was the third President of the independent East Timor, serving from 2002 to 2007. He then became its fourth prime minister, serving from ...

. On 27 August 2007, she was elected a member of the National Council by the National Parliament. Pires is a member of a number of national and international organisations advocating for women's rights and has worked with the UN to produce numerous reports on women's rights. She received funding from the

Catholic Institute for International Relations Progressio (1940–2017) was an international development charity that enabled poor communities to solve their own problems by support from skilled workers. The organisation attempted to influence decisionmakers, secular and religious alike, to su ...

to research domestic violence in East Timor. From 2002 to 2007 she was director of the

UNIFEM The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, french: Fonds de développement des Nations unies pour la femme, ) was established in December 1976 originally as the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women in the International ...

offices in East Timor. In 2010, she was elected to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against women, serving until 2014. She was a founding member of the Centre for Women and Gender. She has written articles on domestic violence and women's rights. On 12 April 2016, Pires was appointed by President

Taur Matan Ruak José Maria Vasconcelos (born 10 October 1956), popularly known as Taur Matan Ruak (Tetum for "Two Sharp Eyes"), is an East Timorese politician who has served as the prime minister of East Timor since 22 June 2018. He was also President of Ea ...

as East Timor's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Personal life

Pires is married to former

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

and CPLP Executive Secretary

Zacarias da Costa Zacarias Albano da Costa (born 16 January 1964, in Remexio) is an East Timorese politician and diplomat. On 8 August 2007, he became foreign minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs following the 2007 East Timorese parliamentary election, 2007 parl ...

and they have one son. Her brother was killed by

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

in the Suai Church massacre in 1999.

Publications

* Milena Pires, "Working Towards Women’s Rights in Timor-Leste: The Launch of “Women, War and Peace” and the Visit to the Village of Mauxiga", in ''Viva Timor-Leste!'' Volume II, Public Information Office of UNMISET, Dili, 2005, pp. 76–77. * * Milena Pires, "East Timor and the Debate on Quotas" Presentation to Regional Workshop on the Implementation of Quotas, International IDEA, Jakarta, September 2002. * Milena Pires, "An Overview of Women's Human Rights in East Timor pertaining to CEDAW", UNIFEM, East Timor, 2004 *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pires, Milena Living people 1966 births Permanent Representatives of East Timor to the United Nations Social Democratic Party (East Timor) politicians East Timorese women in politics East Timorese women's rights activists 21st-century women politicians University of New England (Australia) alumni People from Dili East Timorese women diplomats Women ambassadors Members of the National Parliament (East Timor)