Andrea da Costa, Civil Society Leader
Andrea is the External Liaison Officer for the NGO Forum in East Timor. She is the widow of an East Timorese expatriate Atanasio Conceicao da Costa, founder and first President of the East Timorese Association of WA, Australia, of the East Timorese Amateur Soccer Club of WA, Australia and of the East Timorese Radio Station in Perth, Australia. Andrea was an active volunteer for the Timorese refugees of 1975 working in the areas of social integration for housing, education and legal affairs since that time. She and her husband were members of CNRT and organized many demonstrations and seminars for the plight of East Timor in the past 2 decades. As the External Liaison Officer Andrea promotes cooperation, transparency, effective dialogue and partnership between NGOs, INGOs, other international bodies, UN agencies, UNTAET, ETTA, and the private sector. Andrea now lives with her husbands’ family in a tent amongst the ruins of their bombed house, on a hilltop in the outskirts of Dili. Andrea speaks English, Dutch, German and understands some Portuguese and Tetum.

Source: East Timorese leaders and personalities

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Adelziza Magno
She was active in the East Timor resistance movement within Indonesia from 1993 - 1999 as she worked toward her undergraduate degree in economics at Universitas Sebelas Maret on the Indonesian island of Java.  She joined together with other East Timorese students to form a Timorese Student Network, which challenged the Indonesian annexation of East Timor.  Adelziza also initiated the formation of a women's organization on her campus, FORELSAN (Lorosa'e Women's Forum for Peace), which campaigned around issues of military violence against women.   

Adelziza worked with FOKUPERS and Yayasan HAK, as well as the Radio Talk Show RTK, Radio Timor Kmanek. She also organized and did advocacy for UNTAET talk shows on women’ issues. She is presently connected with SAHE Institute for Liberation as co-ordinator for advocacy and campaigning for women's issues, labour and cultural issues, as well as human rights in the social and economic arena. She was instrumental in establishing REDE, the East Timorese Women's Network, which encompasses 15 East Timorese women's NGOs. In June 2000 Adelziza helped coordinate and organize the First East Timorese Congress of Women.