Permanent Mission of Timor-Leste to the United Nations in New York

New York, 9 June 2026 - H.E. Ms. Céu Brites, Vice Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion of Timor-Leste, delivered a statement during the General Debate of the 19th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP19).

Timor-Leste highlighted its continued commitment to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities through the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which it ratified in 2023. The government has strengthened its legal and policy framework and submitted its initial report to the CRPD Committee, with a constructive dialogue planned for 2027.

Timor-Leste emphasized key achievements, including the implementation of the National Policy on the Inclusion and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the National Disability Action Plan 2021–2030, and the National Social Protection Strategy. In 2026, it also introduced a Disability Inclusion Budget Marker and continued providing financial assistance, livelihood support, and opportunities for participation in national and international celebrations.

While acknowledging progress, Timor-Leste also recognized ongoing challenges in accessibility, inclusive education, employment, health services, transportation, and data collection. It reaffirmed its commitment to working with international partners and civil society to strengthen inclusive social protection and ensure that no one is left behind.

The full statement can be read here:https://estatements.un.org/estatements/61.0320/20260609150000000/MeBSSSLBCVEI/oJSBu-nlLkG_nyc_en.pdf

New York, 8 June 2026 - At the General Assembly High-level debate on “Preventing and Combating Illicit Trafficking in Wildlife and other Crimes that Affect the Environment”, Timor-Leste emphasized that illegal wildlife trafficking and other environmental crimes are major threats that exceed the country’s monitoring capacities, especially across its vast maritime and forest areas.

Timor-Leste called for stronger international action, including recognizing environmental crimes as serious transnational offenses, expanding the use of technologies such as satellite surveillance, strengthening community-based governance, embedding anti-corruption measures into resource management, and deepening regional and multilateral cooperation. These measures aim to improve enforcement and disrupt criminal networks.

Timor-Leste highlighted its own efforts, including expanding more than forty protected areas, improving maritime tracking infrastructure, and incorporating the traditional Tara Bandu system into environmental governance. It concluded that only coordinated legal, institutional, and community-led action can effectively combat environmental crimes and protect global security and sustainable development.

The full statement can be accessed here:https://estatements.un.org/estatements/10.0010/20260608110000000/-sJAMfWmQJbVw/lXThs--bNNqx_nyc_en.pdf

New York, 5 June 2026 - H.E. Ambassador Dionisio Babo Soares, Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the United Nations, presided over the General Assembly 89th Plenary Meeting on the Report of the Security Council, in Timor-Leste’s capacity as Vice President of the 80th session of the UNGA.

New York, 3 June 2026 - At the ninth Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the Implementation of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (BMS9), Timor-Leste reaffirmed its commitment to the UN Programme of Action and the International Tracing Instrument, emphasizing that the illicit spread of small arms threatens peace, development, and human rights, particularly in small and developing countries.

Timor-Leste stressed the importance of international cooperation, capacity-building, and technical assistance. It called for stronger support for least developed countries, expanded regional and South-South cooperation, and greater access to affordable technologies for marking, record-keeping, and tracing weapons.

Drawing on its experience as a post-conflict nation, Timor-Leste highlighted the need to strengthen institutions and promote a culture of peace. It underscored that combating illicit arms flows supports sustainable development and human rights, and reaffirmed its commitment to multilateral efforts to address the issue.

New York, 1 June 2026 - At the General Assembly debate on Strengthening the role of mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes, conflict prevention and resolution, Timor-Leste emphasized that mediation is a vital tool for preventing conflicts, resolving disputes, and maintaining international peace when used early, inclusively, and in accordance with international law. Drawing on its own experience of conflict resolution and state-building, it argued that effective mediation requires factual clarity, broad participation, and respect for state sovereignty.

Timor-Leste highlighted four examples of successful mediation in its history: community reconciliation through the traditional Nahe Biti Boot process after the 1999 crisis, the work of the Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation, bilateral reconciliation with Indonesia through the Commission of Truth and Friendship, and the peaceful settlement of a maritime boundary dispute with Australia through UN-supported conciliation. These cases demonstrated that mediation can work at local, national, bilateral, and international levels.

Looking ahead, Timor-Leste called for three priorities: the early deployment of mediation before conflicts escalate, greater integration of community-based mediation mechanisms into peace processes, and stronger links between mediation and international law. It urged UN Member States to provide sustained resources for mediation, strengthen coordination across all levels of conflict resolution, and make greater use of legal mechanisms such as conciliation and arbitration to prevent disputes from becoming prolonged conflicts.

The full statement can be accessed here:https://estatements.un.org/estatements/10.0010/20260601100000000/Xmu-f-GBCg/IDECBSkewc_nyc_en.pdf

New York, 1 June 2026 - In its remarks during the 2026 ECOSOC Operational Activities for Development Segment (OAS): High-level Dialogue with the Secretary-General, Timor-Leste reaffirmed its support for the UN development system and welcomed the Secretary-General’s report on the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR). Speaking as both a Small Island Developing State and a Least Developed Country, Timor-Leste emphasized the importance of a UN that responds to national priorities and supports country-led development efforts.

It highlighted progress in strengthening coordination across the UN system, particularly through the Resident Coordinator system and Cooperation Frameworks. It also noted growing challenges in development financing and stressed the need for predictable, adequate support to help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, build resilience, and address emerging global challenges.

Timor-Leste called for development cooperation that better reflects countries’ multidimensional vulnerabilities, including climate risks, geographic isolation, external shocks, and limited capacity. In closing, it urged stronger country ownership, sustained support for the Resident Coordinator system, and more tailored development assistance to help vulnerable countries build resilience and accelerate sustainable development.

Read the full speech here:https://estatements.un.org/estatements/30.0010/20260601100000000/HKqhlcxMQTIh/LhQY-GyJ_En_nyc_en.pdf

Shangri-La Dialogue: Asia Security Summit
Special Address
by His Excellency Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta,
President of Timor-Leste
Nobel Peace Laureate (1996)
Singapore, 30th May 2026

Defining the Third Path: Renewing Practical Diplomacy to Address the Root Causes of
Global Disharmony

Sir John, Dr Bastian, thank you for the privilege to be part of the Shangri-La Dialogue. More than ever, the Shangri-La Dialogue matters, matters today, at this very hour. It is one of the few places where the languages of security and diplomacy meet side by side, both are needed.

Let me start with few words on what we all know. Our main international security architecture - the United Nations Security Council - is moribund, sclerotic, irrelevant. It is a sad mirror of the state of the world today.

I am not sure that a simple expansion of membership and elimination of the veto power would revive and render it to be an effective and credible guardian of international security.

The newest judicial body, International Criminal Court created with much fanfare in 2002, is being destroyed. But it seemed that the ICC was meant only for alleged African dictators, so it was allowed to issue arrest warrants and conduct trials. Timor-Leste was among the first signatories of the 2002 Treaty of Rome. ICC is facing an existencial threat - all because its Prosecutor tried to honour the proverbial principle Justice is Blind.

We routinely speak of preserving the rules-based order; but rules do not survive because they are printed in charters. They survive because states
choose restraint, consistency, chose dialogue
to resolve grievances. Rules need institutions and trust. And trust is not created by declarations. It is built through the unflagging pursuit of common interests and the good faith application of rules and norms.

Sustained security cannot come from the barrel of a gun, from coercion and fear. There is more to order, more to security and more to peace.

When these failures expose the most vulnerable
to further harm, it undermines the laws and institutions we have all created over decades to
prevent wars and resolve them when they happen.

Governments have a duty to protect their country sovereingty and territorial integrity, and above all governments have the sacred ultimate responsibility to protect its own people, their physical being and rights to live in freedom and dignity.

We are a small country with a turbulent history, but we are always hopeful. We learned through history that hope is an inner strength, it is the one thing we hold on to when we have lost everything else.

Our independence was built through years of patient, practical diplomacy that gradually
turned old wounds into new bonds. We never demonised the other side, we did not disrespect their faith. We were set free when Indonesians freed themselves in 1998-1991 and embarked on a promising process of reforms and democracy.

Timor-Leste and Indonesia are a model of reconciliation and partnership. We
show that history need not imprison our hearts and minds, history must not imprison nations, wise leadership and dialogue can turn conflict into coexistence, and coexistence into friendship and trust.

ASEAN was not born in a tranquil epoch, it was born from the ashes of the Korean war, the wars in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, Maoist insurgencies, colonial scars, Cold War rivalries, ideological madness and confrontation. Its success was not that it eliminated differences. It did something more modest, and perhaps more profound: it planted a Banyan tree, and under its foliage leaders gathered and ploted the end of wars.

Over decades, ASEAN brought together nations that lived and suffered from all of the
above. Wise leaders believed that sovereignty and cooperation are not opposites. Through
the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, it affirmed principles that sound simple but were
revolutionary when practised: mutual respect, relentless, persistent negotiations leading ton peaceful settlement of disputes, renunciation of the threat or use of force, and effective cooperation.

The resulting trust between ASEAN nations has delivered vast mutual benefits. ASEAN’s economy has underpinned by extensive intraregional trade.

ASEAN is not Heaven on Earth. Achieving consensus is frustratingly slow. Diplomacy can disappoint. Disillusionment can produce cynicism. Security challenges persist. The Myanmar civil war is a stain in ASEAN's otherwise impressive catalogue of successes.

Nevertheless, in a world where bridges are being burned faster than they are built, ASEAN
provides lessons on how sustained dialogue, engagement, can safeguard against conflict and deliver shared benefits. This safeguard can also support strong civilian and military leadership in brokering fair, sustainable, bilateral agreements.
It can create the space for imagination, vision and negotiation.

These are the thoughts - of despair and hope - that came to me as I watch the abysmal failure of global leadership resulting in the devastating wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, consequences of which reverberate across the world.

Were a similar failure to halt freedom of movement and fragment trust in the South China
Sea, the consequences for our world could be even greater.

The South China Sea shouldn’t be a flash point. The Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides space for dialogue and mediation to settle overlapping claims. This maritime area is the lifeline for all of us, including the non-coastal states.

The crisis in the Strait of Hormuz shows us just what is at stake if we do not accelerate the
pace of negotiations towards a South China Sea Code of Conduct and enhance existing conflict prevention mechanisms.

Southeast and East Asian Nations, with and without Exclusive Economic Zones, have a chance to come together under the vision of the South China Sea as a Zone of Peace, recalling other longstanding territorial arrangements that have secured access to contested global commons, as in the case of the Antarctic Treaty System or the collaborations that led to the Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement, whose mandate was premised on peaceful purposes.

Will leaders stand up yet taller and think beyond
narrow national interests and short term gains?
If here I risk words that dreamers use, I invite you to weigh such words with me for a
moment.

In a Zone of Peace, deterrence surely has its place. Readiness has its place. But the logic does not add up if we mistake short-term security plans for long-term security.

In 2025 global military expenditure reached almost three trillion dollars. At the same time, ODA has fallen to lowest levels ever, and climate adaptation finance for developing countries remains a fraction of what is needed.

Consolidating freedom of movement for the future, one of the hallmarks of this
Zone of Peace I envision, claimant States do not abandon their respective claims under UNCL0S,
all agree to create this Zone of Peace, free of artificial islands and military bases that inevitably add to suspicion, fear, and counter actions. Existing artificial islands must be open, accessible, hosting oceanographic and marine life studies.

Military vessels entering this Zone of Peace would adopt customary markings of Peace, signalling to one another in a language that the parties to the Strait of Hormuz closure could not.

We have researched the alternatives to such cooperation all too well. While we are finding
more money to prepare for war, we struggle to find money to prevent the conditions that
make conflict more likely.

A missile can deter an adversary but it cannot hold back the sea. A tank can defend a border, but it cannot restore a failed harvest. A submarine can patrol an ocean, but it cannot rebuild trust in a society displaced by disaster and conflict.

Weapons of war are not fit for all the purposes that we are tempted to set out for them.

I return to my refrain: nothing would be more practical than a sustainable, long-lasting
Zone of Peace that keeps movement in the South China Sea open and equitable
for coastal and non-coastal states alike who depend on its stability.

But the sea also can be a mirror for us to review a range of deep assumptions. When we talk
of the ‘blue economy’ for instance, it is not simply one more agenda item to quantify our
national resources, but a transformational rethinking that sees ‘narrow’ sovereignty placed
among connected oceans and taking part in broader notions of prosperity. It leads us back to
notions of resilience that arise from our interdependence.

Xanana Gusmão, our Prime Minister and Special Representative for the Blue Economy in
Timor-Leste, led our 9th Constitutional Government in adopting this aim: "to transform our sea — which is central to our identity, economy, and geopolitics — into a source of
sustainable development, inclusion, and environmental resilience.” He added that
“for Timor-Leste, the Blue Economy is not only a strategy for survival but also for
development and climate resilience.”

Indeed, for island and coastal nations like ours, the need for such resilience is not abstract.
Climate change is not a distant environmental issue. It is a security crisis. It threatens
homes, fisheries, infrastructure, water, food systems and, in some cases, the very territorial
integrity of states.

I was reminded of this while recently attending the Melanesian Ocean Summit in Papua New Guinea, where leaders from across the Pacific again highlighted that climate change is a direct threat to economic stability, food systems, social cohesion and even state viability
itself.

If we fail to invest seriously in resilience and prevention, more countries will be pushed to the
brink. More people will be forced to move. More governments will face impossible choices.
Instability will not remain neatly within borders.

For smaller and middle powers, choosing
resilience cannot be an ultimatum between bloc politics and isolation, between nostalgia for
an order that was never perfect and their surrender to a world governed by brute force.

For smaller and middle powers, this path begins with a refusal to accept that the future must
be organised only around confrontation. We do not have to accept a world divided
permanently into rival blocs. We can work with all where interests are shared; speak clearly
where principles are threatened; and build coalitions around the practical tasks no country
can solve alone.

Coalitions must be built issue by issue: on climate finance, on energy security, on marine health, on food resilience, on disaster preparedness, on digital governance, and on peace mediation.

To put it bluntly, the third path must be both principled and pragmatic.

I have known it and travelled it first hand.
The emergence of conflict can erode years of progress towards sustainable development.
We must therefore pay renewed attention to addressing the conditions that drive conflict and
to preserving the mechanisms that prevent it. This means developing a more practical
diplomacy for the 21st Century.

ASEAN, and Timor-Leste's, unique story within its constellation, hold key lessons for patient,
practical and effective diplomacy.

ASEAN’s achievement in this respect is not that it made all countries think alike. It has not erased differences in history, politics, size or strategic outlook. Instead, it has created habits of cooperation despite those differences.

Meeting by meeting, agreement by agreement, project by project, ASEAN has showed that
trust can be constructed. It has showed that dialogue can become trade, trade can become
interdependence, and interdependence can become a shared interest in peace.

This is the kind of diplomacy our world now needs more of. Not diplomacy as hollow
ceremony. Not diplomacy as performance. But diplomacy as patient construction.

If we are serious about a third path with impact underpinned by practical diplomacy, then we
must make it visible in concrete areas. We must treat energy security and climate resilience
as core security issues.

A region with more weapons but failing grids, vulnerable coastlines, fragile food systems and unaffordable energy is not secure. It is merely waiting for the next shock.

We must ensure that climate and development finance are not treated as optional generosity, available only when budgets are comfortable.

For vulnerable countries, resilience is not charity. It is prevention. It is the work that reduces the likelihood of displacement, instability and future conflict.

And we must apply rules consistently. Selectivity corrodes trust. When rules appear to
protect some and not others, smaller states begin to wonder whether the language of order
is really only the language of power.

A rules-based order only survives when countries see that restraint, fairness and peaceful settlement are practised, not only preached.

This is not idealism. It is realism with a longer horizon.

Let us therefore leave this Dialogue with a clearer sense of what peace requires. It requires
defence, yes, but it also requires prevention. It requires national strength, but also practical
cooperation across borders through patient diplomacy. It requires rules, but also the trust
that gives rules life. Practical, patient diplomacy, can build this trust.

In 2026, let us be clear-eyed about danger, but not captured by it.

Let us be committed to maintaining security, but devoted to building the conditions for a
Zone of Peace in the South China Sea for all of Southeast Asia, for all of Asia, for the world.

May the God of all Humanity shower leaders with wisdom and compassion.

J. Ramos-Horta

New York, 28 May 2026 - At the UN Security Council Debate on “Upholding the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter and Strengthening the UN-Centered International System”, Timor-Leste emphasized the importance of upholding the principles of the UN Charter and strengthening multilateral cooperation in the face of rising geopolitical tensions. It reaffirmed its strong commitment to international law, peaceful dispute resolution, and the central role of the United Nations in maintaining global peace and security. Timor-Leste highlighted its own independence journey as evidence of the UN’s value and warned that weakening core principles such as sovereignty and territorial integrity would especially endanger smaller nations.

Timor-Leste acknowledged both the challenges and achievements of the United Nations over the past decades. The UN has been essential in preventing conflicts, supporting peacekeeping operations, advancing diplomacy, and addressing the root causes of instability through development, humanitarian assistance, and human rights work. It further stressed that peace and development are interconnected and that the effectiveness of the international system ultimately depends on the political will and cooperation of member states, especially major powers.

Timor-Leste concluded by offering several recommendations to strengthen the international system. These included renewed respect for the UN Charter, improved unity and effectiveness within the Security Council, stronger support for preventive diplomacy and peacekeeping, and greater investment in institutions addressing development and humanitarian needs. It called for collective responsibility, emphasizing that while the United Nations is imperfect, it remains indispensable as the foundation of a rules-based international order.

Managua, 26 May 2026 - During the fourth meeting of the Caribbean Regional Seminar of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization (C24), under the agenda item on political developments in the Non-Self-Governing Territories in other regions, Timor-Leste delivered statements on Western Sahara, the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), and Gibraltar.

On the question of Western Sahara, Timor-Leste reaffirmed that a peaceful, just, and lasting solution must be achieved through a credible, inclusive, and internationally supervised political process, in accordance with the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination. Timor-Leste stressed that unilateral actions or imposed outcomes would not contribute to a sustainable resolution of the issue.

Timor-Leste also highlighted the humanitarian dimension of the situation, noting that thousands of Sahrawi refugees continue to depend on international humanitarian assistance and support. Their dignity, welfare, and protection must remain a priority for the international community.

In its statements on the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) and Gibraltar, Timor-Leste emphasized the importance of constructive engagement, peaceful dialogue, and inclusive political processes in addressing unresolved decolonization issues. Drawing from its own experience of independence, Timor-Leste reiterated that lasting peace and sustainable solutions can only be achieved through diplomacy, mutual respect, and the genuine expression of the will of the peoples concerned.

Managua, 25 May 2026 - During the second meeting of the 2026 Caribbean Regional Seminar of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization (C24) held in the afternoon, under the agenda item on political developments in the Non-Self-Governing Territories in the Pacific region, Timor-Leste reaffirmed the importance of dialogue, mutual respect, and inclusive political processes in addressing decolonisation issues, including the situation in New Caledonia.

Drawing from its own experience of self-determination, Timor-Leste underscored the importance of peaceful engagement among all stakeholders and encouraged continued constructive dialogue towards a peaceful, durable, and mutually acceptable outcome that reflects the freely expressed will of the people.

Timor-Leste also reiterated its support for the efforts of the United Nations, regional partners, and all relevant stakeholders in promoting peace, stability, and social cohesion in Territories in the Pacific Region.