 In 2000, Alves organized the first National Women's Congress.In the interim government under United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), Alves became a gender equality adviser on September 30, 2001.The same year, Alves was selected by Rede Feto, a network of about 15 women’s organisations, to stand as an independent candidate in the first parliamentary elections,  but she was not elected to the national parliament of East Timor.