Timor-Leste: Adult Literacy, Popular Education and Post-conflict Peacebuilding

Abstract

Timor-Leste, one of the world's newest countries, gained its independence in 2002, after a protracted national liberation struggle against occupying Indonesian military forces and a brief period of United Nations rule. In 2006, the first independence government initiated a national adult literacy campaign, with the support of a team of Cuban advisers, who brought with them a literacy teaching model, known internationally by its Spanish name Yo, Si Puedo! (Trans: Yes, I Can!). By the time the campaign officially concluded, in December 2012, it had reached over 200,000 people. This chapter draws on evidence collected during an in-country participatory action research evaluation of this campaign to discuss the contribution of popular education to post-conflict peacebuilding and development.