Dili, 4 March 2026 – The Secretary General of the Cruz Vermelha de Timor-Leste (CVTL), Agapito da Silva, together with department coordinators at CVTL and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Delegation in Timor-Leste, officially bid farewell to the CVTL Peer-to-Peer Emergency Response Team before their deployment to Indonesia.
The team includes CVA Officer Maria Pascoela and WASH Officer Orlando de Carvalho, who will support disaster response operations following the recent floods that affected several regions in Indonesia, including Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.
The mission will last for one month. During this period, the CVTL team will provide peer-to-peer technical support and share knowledge and experience with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI). Their support will focus particularly on Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) to strengthen response capacity and assist communities affected by the flooding. This deployment follows the coordination mechanism of the IFRC and receives global support from the IFRC Secretariat in Geneva and the Asia Pacific Regional Office.
Speaking during the farewell, CVTL Secretary General Agapito da Silva congratulated both team members and expressed confidence in their mission. He emphasized that they represent not only themselves but also CVTL and Timor-Leste, encouraging them to apply their knowledge and maintain close coordination with colleagues from PMI and IFRC throughout the operation.
CVA Officer Maria Pascoela and WASH Officer Orlando de Carvalho expressed gratitude for the opportunity to support the regional humanitarian response. “We are grateful for this wonderful opportunity. We ask for your moral support and prayers as we carry out this mission. We believe we will do our best and demonstrate the quality and capacity that CVTL can offer,” they said.
This deployment reflects CVTL’s commitment to regional humanitarian solidarity, promoting the exchange of knowledge, experience, and best practices, while strengthening collective preparedness within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement across Southeast Asia.
