The Inaugural Harold Mitchell Development Policy Lecture: Timor-Leste and the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States

This is an edited transcript of the lecture given by The Honorable Emilia Pires, Timor-Leste Finance Minister and g7+ Chair, for the inaugural Harold Mitchell Development Policy Lecture at the Australian National University on 22 November 2012. In her lecture and subsequent Q&A, Ms Pires explains, drawing from its own experience in achieving social stability and rapid growth, Timor-Leste’s pioneering role in the establishment of the g7+, a group of now 18 fragile states that was formed in 2010 as a country-owned and country-led global mechanism to monitor, report on and draw attention to the unique challenges faced by fragile states. The New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States is the first time in history that conflict-afflicted states have taken the lead in designing an aid architecture for and by themselves.