AINARO, 23 july 2022 (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste celebrated its National Health Day on july 22 with key initiatives aimed at improving Timorese people’s access to quality health care, especially on maternal and child health. One such initiative is the recruitment manual for health professionals that the Minister for Health, Odete Maria Freitas Belo, launched during the National Health Day event in Ainaro Municipality.
The country’s first-ever recruitment manual for health workers has been developed by the National Directorate for Human Resources (NDHR) with support from the USAID Health System Sustainability Activity.
In addition to its technical assistance for developing the manual, the Activity also supported NDHR in conducting a series of workshops to introduce the manual to a range of stakeholders—health professionals (doctors, nurses, midwives, etc.), health associations, and civil society organizations—to gather their feedback and inputs to refine the document.
The recruitment and selection policy and operational guidelines contained in the manual will ensure that the Ministry of Health (MoH) adopts a standard, fair, transparent, and effective procedure to select and deploy health staff at different levels.
The manual outlines the process for selecting MoH’s permanent staff, administrative agents, and health professionals. The guidelines for recruitment of fixed-term contractors, interns, and scholarships will be developed later to complement the launched manual.
The MoH hailed the recruitment manual’s launch as a landmark development that will transform Timor-Leste’s human resources for health. Reiterating its commitment to providing equal opportunity, the MoH expressed confidence that all potential public health workers will now be assessed according to their skills, knowledge, qualifications, experience, and capability, with no discrimination based on age, gender, marital status, race, religion, physical impairment, or political opinion.
The National Director of Human Resources, Augusto Pinto confirmed that the recruitment manual will help guide human resource officers in the Ministry of Health to recruit personnel in a non-discriminatory manner based on merit, and according to principles and laws that prevail in Timor-Leste.
The MoH thanked the USAID Health System Sustainability Activity for its support in developing the manual. Special thanks were also extended to those who participated in the consultation process, such as the National Director of Human Resources, chiefs of Departments under the NDHR, and the Civil Service Commission.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
