The joint assessment mission and reconstruction in East Timor

Abstract

In ‘The Joint Assessment Mission and reconstruction in East Timor’, an outline is given of how the Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) arose and why it was brought into existence, as well as the areas it supervised or covered. JAM arose from a meeting on 29 September of the donor organizations. Both Xanana Gusmão and José Ramos Horta sent a strong message at that time that while East Timor was in need of international support during the period of reconstruction, any assistance should be well co-ordinated and should be identified in a joint process with East Timorese representatives. JAM was ‘joint’ in two senses: first, every international member was paired with an East Timorese expert, including the mission coordinator and deputy; second, the international side of the mission came from a broad range of bilateral and multilateral donors and international organisations. While one of the key benefits of JAM was the increase in knowledge and skills for mission members, the real impact must be judged by the results it produced on the ground: the humanitarian program winding down; the reconstruction programs up and running.