With approximately 1,3 million population, Timor-Leste has made milestones in ending violence against women and girls and intimate partner violence. More than 75 per cent of the population under 35 and more than half of the youth live in rural areas and have been unable to shift the high tolerance for men’s perpetration of violence against women.

The children of Timor-Leste face many barriers to living a full and prosperous life. Poverty, malnutrition and poor access to healthcare mean that many children are unable to thrive. Only one in four children aged 3-5 years have access to pre-school and the others start schooling directly in grade 1, leaving them at a disadvantage that may impact subsequent years of their education.

UN Volunteers in Timor-Leste were at the heart of the humanitarian mission, supporting displaced communities. Heavy rains in early April had caused flash floods that affected the livelihoods of over 25,700 households in 13 municipalities across the country.  

I arrived in a country where nearly all public infrastructure and most private houses were destroyed. Timor-Leste at that time was a country without a state—a nation where most civil servants had withdrawn. The UN, through the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), was there to fill an empty space. As UN Volunteer District Field Officer, I was the face of the UN administration in the sub-district of Laclo. I was responsible for delivering basic public services. Over time, it quickly became apparent that there was much more to it than that.

The main causes of forest and land degradation in the country include deforestation, inappropriate agricultural practices, forest fires, over-grazing and demographic pressures. A survey conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) reported that the annual deforestation rate between 2003 and 2010 had been 1.73 per cent. If this alarming trend were to persist, 17.3 per cent of the forest in the country would disappear by 2021 and all forests in Timor-Leste by 2071.

Soon he would be carrying out a host of duties to help Timor-Leste’s citizens take action against global warming.

Dili, Timor-Leste:  My name is Muhammad Afrianto Kurniawan, and my friends call me Afrianto. I am from Indonesia and this is my first assignment as a UN Volunteer. I have been working for UNICEF Timor-Leste as a UN Volunteer Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Engineer since the end of January, 2010.

Dili, Timor-Leste: My name is Shoko Fujita, I am from Japan. I arrived in Dili, Timor-Leste in May 2011. Soon after having joined UNICEF, I went on a field trip to Aileu and Manufahi districts to assess and monitor the situation of children there. In five months, I have already travelled almost through all the districts except for Ermera.