Local NGOs in national development: The case of East Timor

The association started with around 100 members, and had grown to 120 members by
mid-2004. These included legal professionals, international human rights supporters,
farmers, activists from other NGOs, MPs (from FRETILIN and PSD), and members of
the middle class, as well as the staff and volunteers of HAK, all of whom paid US$25
per year in membership fees. The General Meeting of members formulates guidelines
for HAK’s programs and receives reports from the Executive Board (senior staff) and
the elected Member’s Representative Council. The members also elect the Executive
Board to their positions for a period of four years. The Member’s Representative
Council (MRC), elected for a four-year period, supervises the implementation of the
program guidelines by the Executive Board. The Council in 2004 comprised nine
members, including a Supreme Court Judge, a member of parliament, a prosecutor, the
manager of the Islamic Community, and two international human rights activists living
in Timor-Leste. The Chair was the Moderator of the Protestant Church. 225 The entire
staff met towards the end of every month, with two representatives of the MRC
present, and this meeting was followed by the monthly meeting of the MRC itself in
the first week of the subsequent month. This change in organisational status was ‘a
monumental step taken by the HAK founders and staff’ (Marut and Meijer 2003:10)
reflecting a desire to internalise democracy, and develop greater commitment through
staff participation in decision making and greater organisational transparency and
accountability.
In addition to these changes, since the early period when there were essentially only
two functions, HAK has restructured its management several times. From 2001-2004 it
had six divisions, but these were reduced to five during 2004. 226 In late 2004 HAK was
led by a Director, an Associate Director, and Directors of each division (together
known as the Executive Board) with the following functional divisions:
• policy advocacy;
• legal aid;
• research and documentation;
225
Information gained from participation in mid-year Review meeting July 2004 and respondent 56.
226
These were subsequently reduced to four in early 2005. Information provided during review of case
study by HAK.
170