On Friday (6th March 2009) I attended an International Women's Day event hosted by ETWA (East Timor Women Australia).

The event was to celebrate the achievements of East Timorese women and their contribution to political freedom in the 10 years since East Timor's independence.

The guest speaker for the evening was Fernanda Borges - the only female partly leader in East Timor's national parliament. Fernanda is a truly inspiring women with an absolute commitment to bettering the lives of all Timorese people.

Fernanda talked at length about the progress of East Timor since gaining independence in 1999 and her belief that East Timor's full potential can not realised unless justice is served for all its people - in this she made a call for justice for the crimes against humanity perpetuated against the people of East Timor.

To this end Fernanda and her party (the National Unity Party or PUN) will continue the fight to keep their government accountable by questioning and challenging decisions particularly in relation to government spending - people like Fernando are truly inspirational especially when they work within what can be a dangerous environment.

Next up .... was a film screening of Heru Ini Lafu : Weaving Life - a documentary about the rural tais weavers that ETWA support - another celebration of the critical role women in East Timor have played in cultural regeneration and national development.

ETWA is a Melbourne based not-for-profit that supports women weavers of tais - East Timor's traditional textile.

For more information on ETWA check out their website http://www.etwa.org.au/.

Sankofa also stocks products from ETWA - http://www.sankofa.com.au/