Born: 28 November 1959, Timor-Leste (East Timor)
Died: NA
Country most active: Timor-Leste (East Timor)
Also known as: Mana Micato or Mikato, Beta Mau
Women’s rights activist Maria Domingas Alves went from a resistance fighter to a civil servant and politician, serving as Timor-Leste’s Minister of Social Solidarity from 2007 to 2012.
Under the name Beta Mau, she was a key leader in the resistance movement during the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste from 1975 to 1999. She was particularly active around Laclubar and Laclo with the Organização Popular de Mulheres Timorense (Popular Organisation of East Timorese Women), part of FRETILIN (the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor). In 1978, she and her husband were arrested and interrogated for more than two weeks before they were released.
Alves began working for the Indonesian Industry and Trade Authority, from 1983 until 1999. She co-founded the Forum for Communication for East Timorese Women, a women’s rights group, in 1997 and campaigned for independence leading up to the 1999 referendum on the subject. The referendum, backed by the United Nations, overwhelmingly resulted in a rejection of Indonesia’s continued occupation of the country, leading to massive violence, including around 1400 civilians murdered, and destruction of infrastructure by the Indonesian military and the deployment of UN forces to restore order.
The following year, Alves organized the first National Women’s Congress, and in 2001, became a gender equality adviser to the UN’s interim government (Timor-Leste achieved full independence in 2002). Also in 2001, she ran as a parliamentary candidate, but did not win, instead becoming an adviser to the prime minister and, in 2002, director of the Office for the Promotion of Equality, serving in that role until 2006. She was also a member of the Conselho de Estado (Council of State), which advises the president, from 2005 to 2007. From 2007 to 2012, she served as the federal Minister of Social Solidarity and was appointed a commissioner of the Comissão da Função Pública (Civil Service Commission) in 2015.
In recognition of her work, Alves received the government’s Nicolau Lobato Order in 2006, and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.