José Ramos-Horta

Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 1996. Former President of East Timor.

José Ramos-Horta served as President of Timor L’Este between 2007 and 2012. Previously, he served as Prime Minister and Minister of Defence from 2006 to 2007 and as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation from 2002 to 2006. With Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo he is the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize “for their work toward a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor.” A co-founder of the Revolutionary Front for the Independence of Timor- Leste, between 1975 and 1999 he was Minister for Foreign Affairs and Information. In 1990 he settled in Sydney, Australia, and founded the Diplomacy Training Program in the University of New South Wales. In 1999 he returned to East Timor to contribute to the negotiations that led to Timorese independence. As a Cabinet Member of the United Nations Transition Administration for East Timor from 2000 to 2002, Ramos-Horta helped to bring about peaceful elections for the country. After his service in office, from 2012 to 2014, he acted as Special Representative to the UN Secretary General to and in 2014 he was asked by the Secretary General to head a High Level Independent Panel on the UN Peacekeeping system.