Timor-Leste: Supporting Gender Equality and Women’s Human Rights in Nation-building of Timor-Leste

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Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

JOINT PROGRAMME QUICK FACTS

Total Budget $7,500,000
Delivery Rate
Participating Agencies UNICEF, UNFPA, UN Women, IOM, UNDP
Main Achievements
  • Law Against Domestic Violence promulgated in June 2010. JP is assisting in the development of National Action Plans on Gender-Based Violence and Human Trafficking, and has held trainings and awareness raising for local councils, 13 of which are implementing anti-trafficking projects.
  • JP is supporting the development of guidelines for operating shelters and standard operating procedures for referrals for victims of gender-based violence.
  • JP has supported the establishment and/or operation of 6 shelters/referral centers and provided emergency shelter and psycho-social support to 585 victims of gender-based violence and 31 victims of human trafficking.
Contact Rafiqul Haider, JP Coordinator
rafiqul.haider@unwomen.org

Timor-Leste is as one of the poorest countries in the world. During the struggle leading up to independence in 2002, between 100,000 and 250,000 people died from violence or hunger and vast swaths of infrastructure were destroyed. Today, unemployment and underemployment are estimated to be as high as 70%, and about half of the population is believed to be living below the poverty line.

Despite the constraints of being a newly independent country, the government of Timor Leste has joined the global effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, including the goal of promoting gender equality and empowering women.

The joint UN programme is supporting the government of Timor-Leste in these efforts by working to ensure that women are protected from violence and economic hardship, and have equal access to justice.

The JP assisted in the formulation of the Law Against Domestic Violence, which was passed in June 2010, and is supporting the development of the National Action Plans on Gender-Based Violence and Human Trafficking.

It is also providing effective mechanisms to prevent trafficking through capacity-building of government and other stakeholders, and is improving services for victims of violence.

The JP is supporting the adoption and implementation of a gender-responsive budget, and is helping to reduce discrimination against women by ensuring equitable access to resources, services and ownership of assets. It is also protecting women-headed households through conditional cash transfers and supporting local councils to make the needs of women and girls a priority.

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