Francisco de Silva

Mr Da Silva is 26 years of age and lives in East Timor. He is a local member of staff for the Land and Property Unit, UNTAET, as well as a member of the East Timor Student Solidarity Council. He has received training in computers, International Relations and Contemporary Problems of Governments, as well as a one-week course in Human Rights conducted by a local NGO, Yayasan HAK. His work with UNTAET is as an information assistant and interpreter. As a member of the East Timor Student Solidarity Council, he has worked to collect and report information regarding human rights violence in the East Timor. He has also taught English to members of the Council outside working hours. In the past, Mr Da Silva has been a library assistant at East Timor University, and a language assistant with the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET). As a local staff member for UNAMET, he was evacuated to Darwin in 1999, and it was upon his return to East Timor that he began working for UNTAET.