Maria Domingas Alves - women's rights activist

Maria Domingas Fernandes Alves (born 1959), nickname Mana (sister) Micato or Mikato, resistance name Beta Mau, is a women's rights activist, civil servant, former resistance fighter,  and independent politician from East Timor. Between 2007-2012, she was Minister of Social Solidarity.

Alves was born in Laclo, Manatuto. Her father was head of a sub-district in Portuguese Timor. He is a part of the parliament of Manatuto during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Alves take a part in the Liceu Dr. Francisco Machado, Dili. She is married to Jacinto Alves, with whom she had four daughters and a son.

During the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, Alves was one of the main female head of the resistance movement, especially all over the place to Laclubar and Lazlo. She participated actively in the Organization Popular de Mulheres Timorense (Popular Organisation of East Timorese Women) (OPMT), the women's organization of FRETILIN. 

In 1978, Alves and her husband were arrested in the hills and taken to Metinaro for interrogation. They were released after about 16 days and sent to Dili,  where she worked as a civil servant in the Indonesian Industry and Trade Authority from 1983-1999. In 1997, Alves co-founded the women's rights organization Forum for Communication for East Timorese Women (FOKUPERS), and campaigned for independence in the run-up to the 1999 East Timorese independence referendum.

On November 28, 2006, Alves received from the government the Nicolau Lobato Order for her participation and contribution to East Timor's liberation.