Government of Timor-Leste

"Ethics and Professionalism in Public Service" was the theme of the fourth national meeting of the national directors, which took place on December 16, 2011, at the Díli Convention Center.

This meeting, organized by the Civil Service Commission, began with a speech, dedicated to the meeting theme, from the Rector of the National University of Timor-Leste, Dr. Aurélio Guterres,. This was followed by the intervention of the General-Directors of the Ministries and Secretariats of State for submission of progress and challenges, and also the speech of the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice, Sebastião Dias Ximenes.

The President of the Civil Service Commission, Libório Pereira, said that "the theme of the meeting, Ethics and Professionalism in Public Service, is important to analyze the performance of civil servants in the Ministries and Secretariats of State. This meeting is a great opportunity for General Directors to present an assessment of progress and challenges to the Prime Minister".

Attentive throughout the meeting, the Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, made the closing speech. "Public officials must have good ethics and good professionalism in the performance of their duties. Your role is to serve our nation. If you let yourself be influenced by the party issues, your performance will not be positive. I ask those who occupy management positions to work in a professional and ethical manner". The Head of Government concluded that "the most important is to work with professionalism and patriotism so as not to think only about individual interests and forget the national interests".

Members of the Government, Commissioners of the Public Service Commission, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of UN for Timor-Leste, Ameerah Haq, representatives of the Catholic Church, Directors General, National Directors and other invited guests also participated in the meeting.