Dili, 24 February 2026 (Média Democracia) – The Alumni Parliament of Young Timor-Leste held a public debate competition for university and public institute students on Climate Justice and Climate Financing, Empowering Women and Youth for Timor-Leste’s Resilience, aiming to enhance students’ critical knowledge and promote public discussion on climate and climate financing in Timor-Leste.
The objective of this public debate activity is to promote youth participation, specifically through public debate on climate issues, where the competition itself, is participated in by students, so they can share ideas and criticisms to find solutions to climate change problems.
“I think students are not just studying academically, but they’re also here to share their ideas on the theme of climate change.” Said the President of the Alumni Parliament of Young Timor-Leste (APFTL) Benvinda, to journalists at Nelayan Resto Bidau, Monday (23/02)
The President of the Alumni Parliament of Young Timor-Leste said, APFTL held this activity to give space to students, so they can share their ideas, and also have pro and con discussions on how to argue their ideas.
This activity has a prepared budget, not a big amount, for the winners from the three Universities who will be the winners, and others who don’t win will receive a certificate of appreciation.
“When they do the public debate on climate change, the first place will get $600, second place will get $400, and third place will get $200.” Said the President of the Alumni Parliament of Young Timor-Leste
In this program, APFTL is working together with OXFAM in Timor-Leste, in 2023, for the first time, working on a project on climate financing, how to raise public awareness.
“APFTL has a general program related to climate change, so we provide training and socialization, but through discussion, and first, we did it with relevant Ministries, then we had discussions with communities in the Municipalities, and now we’re doing this activity, a public debate on climate change.” Informed the President of the Alumni Parliament of Young Timor-Leste
In 2023-2026, with the climate financing activity, APFTL received support from OXFAM in Timor-Leste with a budget of $90,000.
At the same venue, Cedelígio Moniz, a student from Unital, said, “Participating in this activity isn’t just about joining a competition, but substantially, it’s an important step for awareness.”
“How can we have knowledge about climate change, and also how can we disseminate information to society, because on this planet, there are only three important things: Humans, Plants, and Animals.” Said Cedelígio Moniz, a student from Unital
So, the general theme has three important variables, first, climate justice, second, contributions to climate change and the impact of climate change, or according to the evolution of society in the revolution, and third, people who are vulnerable to climate change, namely women and children.
He added, “The emotions raised to do this debate are really relevant, doing this discussion can wake up relevant parties like the Government and Civil Society to take measures.”
“Like Last night, there was heavy rain for just three hours, but it caused big floods in places, even entering people’s houses, bedrooms, and kitchens, making it hard for people to rest. If we compare climate change now to 7 years ago, even with heavy rain, it didn’t flood like this even after 5 years. It’s because there used to be space for water to flow, but now there’s no space for water to flow.” Said Cedelígio Moniz, a student from Unital
Explain further, “This discussion is very important and determinant for human life, because human life is connected to nature, if we intervene with nature, we can die, that’s why nowadays, countries all over the world are thinking, how can we reduce gas and pollution, that is really harming us.”
Reporting : Estefania
Photo : Estefania