On behalf of the United Nations Country Team in Timor-Leste, I congratulate the Government for today’s approval of a draft resolution to be submitted to Parliament for Timor-Leste to become a State party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as the Optional Protocol to this Convention. Following Parliament’s approval of the ratification and its deposition to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Timor-Leste will join the current 185 States Parties to the Convention and the 100 State Parties to the Optional Protocol. I am reminded of the words of our Secretary-General Antonio Guterres here. He said, “We need everyone, including persons with disabilities, onboard to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Around the world, persons with disabilities and their representative organisations are taking action to realise the call: ‘Nothing about us, without us’”. It was due time for the Government to take such an important decision. The Convention underlines the universality of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and the right of persons with disabilities to the equal effective enjoyment of these legal guarantees in a way that is respectful and accommodating of their differences. The ratification will bring about lasting and transformative change in Timor-Leste’s standing on disability inclusion across its policies, programmes and operations. It will help ensure that people (men, women and children) with disabilities have access to education, healthcare, and employment opportunities, as well as to participate and be involved in all aspects of society. I hope that the ratification of the Convention and its Optional Protocol will provide a strong legal basis for the guarantee of equal opportunities for persons with disabilities in Timor-Leste through the elimination of all those barriers which exclude or restrict their full participation. United Nations stands with the people and Government of Timor-Leste, civil society, also including the organisations of persons with disabilities, the private sector, and the media, to assist in effectively implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol to tackle the obstacles, the injustices and the discrimination that persons with disabilities experience. Realising the rights of persons with disabilities is crucial to fulfilling the core promise of the 2030 Agenda: to leave no one behind. That is our goal. -END-   Atu garante direitu ema ho defisiénsia sira-nian presiza atu defende valór no prinsípiu sira karta Nasoins Unidas nian. Lori ekipa Nasoins Unidas nia naran iha Timor-Leste, ha'u hato'o parabéns ba Governu nebe aprova ona ohin proposta rezolusaun ne'ebé sei entrega ba Parlamentu Nasionál, atu Timor-Leste sai nu'udar Estadu parte ba Konvensaun kona-ba direitu ema ho defisiénsia sira-nian no mós protokolu opsional ba Konvensaun ida-ne'e. Hafoin aprovasaun husi Parlamentu Nasionál ba ratifikasaun no ninia depozisaun ba Sekretariu-Jeral Nasoins Unidas nian Timor-Leste sei hola parte iha Estadu parte atuál sira hamutuk 185 no Estadu parte 100 ba Konvensaun no protokolu opsional. Ha'u hanoin fali ba ita-nia Sekretáriu Jerál António Guterres nia liafuan nebeé. Nia dehan "Ita presiza ema hotu-hotu inklui ema ho defisiénsia sira atu alkansa objetivu sira husi dezenvolvimentu sustentavel." Iha mundu tomak ema ho defisiénsia sira no sira-nia organizasaun sira-ne'e foti asaun atu realiza apelu ne'e “ la iha buat ida kona ba ita,  se la ho ita”. Tempu opurtunu duni ba Governu atu foti desizaun importante ne'e. Konvensaun ne'e subliña universalidade direitu umanu no liberdade fundamentál hotu-hotu no direitu ema ho defisiénsia sira-nian ba goza efetivu husi garantia legál sira-ne'e ho maneira ne'ebé respeita no akomoda sira-nia diferensa. Ratifikasaun sei lori mudansa ba tempu naruk no transformativu iha Timor-Leste nia relasaun ho Inkluzaun defisiénsia iha ninia programa no operasaun polítika sira. Ida ne'e sei ajuda garante katak ema sira (mane sira feto no labarik sira) ho defisiénsia iha asesu ba Edukasaun, saúde no oportunidade sira empregu no mós atu partisipa no envolve iha aspetu hotu-hotu sosiedade nian. Ha'u hein katak ratifikasaun Konvensaun no protokolu opsional ne'e nian sei fó baze legál ida-ne'ebé forte atu garante oportunidade ne'ebé hanesan ba ema ho defisiénsia sira iha Timor-Leste liuhusi halakon tiha bareira sira-ne'e hotu ne'ebé esklui ka limita sira-nia partisipasaun tomak. Nasoins Unidas hamriik hamutuk ho povu no Governu Timor-Leste, sosiedade sivíl inklui mós organizasaun ema ho defisiénsia sira, setór privadu no média sira, atu tulun hodi implementa ho efetivu Konvensaun kona-ba direitu ema ho defisiénsia sira-nian no protokolu opsional atu hatán ba obstákulu sira ne'ebé hasoru injustisa no diskriminasaun ne'ebé ema ho defisiénsia sira hasoru. Realiza duni direitu ema ho defisiénsia sira-nian ne'e importante atu kumpre promesa fundamentál husi ajenda 2030 ne'ebé koko atu la husik ema ida iha kotuk. Ne'e mak ita-nia planu.

DILI, 23 November 2021: The Government of Timor-Leste, the European Union (EU), United Nations (UN), and Civil Society representatives met today to reflect on the achievements of the Spotlight Initiative. They reviewed progress and discussed future actions to address the increased risk of violence against women and girls in the wake of recovery from COVID-19 pandemic. The fourth meeting of the National Steering Committee was organised by the Secretariat of State for Equality and Inclusion and the UN Resident Coordinator's Office. The meeting brought together representatives from different Ministries, Municipalities, the EU, UN agencies, and Civil Society representatives. The Spotlight Initiative, which started in January 2020 and which is financed by the EU, has substantially contributed to preventing and responding to violence against women and girls. Over 357,336 women and girls, or 27% of the total population of Timor-Leste, have benefitted directly from the programme over the past two years. More than 700,000 people were also reached through social media. Spotlight is aligned with the National Action Plan on Gender Based Violence (NAP GBV) and supports the implementation of the NAP GBV at national and municipal levels. The Secretary of State for Equality and Inclusion is a key government partner and Co-Chair of the National Steering Committee. "I would like to convey my sincere appreciation for all the efforts you all have carried out. While all of us have faced various challenges due to limited movement because of COVID-19, sanitary health fence and the recent floods, but we have made significant progress, as seen in the results presented earlier. I believe together with the UN and European Union, we will improve implementation performance in the coming period," stated Secretary of State for Equality and Inclusion, Maria José da Fonseca Monteiro de Jesus. In Timor-Leste, the Initiative is being implemented by five UN agencies (ILO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, and UN Women) in collaboration with civil society and Government partners through technical and financial support. The programme currently supports 22 civil society projects representing 33 partner organisations at national level and locally in three municipalities (Bobonaro, Ermera and Viqueque). In Phase 1, Spotlight will spend USD 4 million through implementing partners. The European Union Ambassador stated, “Ending violence against woman and girls is a priority for the European Union, both in Europe and around the world.  Gender-based violence is criminal. It’s a brutal form of discrimination and a violation of women's fundamental rights.  There can be no excuses for it. The Spotlight Initiative is a practical manifestation of the EU’s political commitment to ending the violence. In Timor-Leste such violence is a major problem, and we are pleased to work with the Government and civil society to help eliminate it.”  Spotlight Initiative in Timor-Leste has worked with the Government and partners, including National Police (PNTL), Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Solidarity and Inclusion, Ministry of Health, Trade Union Confederation, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Associação Empresarial das Mulheres de Timor-Leste (Timor-Leste Women’s Business Association), and Secretariat of State for Vocational Training and Employment (SEFOPE) to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against women and girls. Over 800 Public Sector representatives were trained, and 33 partnerships developed with organisations working with marginalised groups, particularly people from the LGBT community and people with disabilities, to improve their access to services. As a result of community mobilisation, advocacy, system strengthening, and improved awareness, violence against women and girls (VAWG) reporting and response have increased considerably. The Spotlight Initiative partners provided over 7,000 support actions to women and girls in municipalities of focus who reported physical/sexual violence and sought legal help. More than 1,319 cases of VAWG were reported to justice officials – almost twice the number of cases compared to the previous year in these municipalities. In addition, the Spotlight Initiative supported 435 women and girl survivors of violence and their families through knowledge, information, and capacity building. Training and information for parents is contributing to healthy and respectful relationships at home and in schools. It has been globally recognised that violence is often exacerbated in emergencies and natural disasters due to disruption of services, destruction of infrastructure, displacement, and limited access to referral services. Despite the shutdowns and restrictions in response to COVID-19 and recent floods, action against VAWG remains one of the highest priorities for the Government, United Nations, EU and partners in Timor-Leste. "Women and girls in Timor-Leste are under greater risk of violence as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent the floods caused by Cyclone Seroja, making them more vulnerable. We are proud of the work done by the Government, the UN Agencies, Civil Society Organisations and the media during the past two years of the Spotlight Initiative. Despite difficult times, the Initiative reached many women, girls, boys, men and minority groups with information, training, and services. The UN in Timor-Leste will continue working with communities, the Government, and partners to eliminate all kinds of violence against women and girls and ensure that all people are safe, well supported and that peoples fundamental rights are effectively protected ", noted United Nations Resident Coordinator Roy Trivedy. Timor-Leste is one of the countries that benefits from the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative with the support of the Government, civil society, and partners in the eradication of violence against women and girls. After achieving significant progress in the last 20 years since its historic independence vote, Timor-Leste has demonstrated its commitment to ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) and intimate partner violence. Despite the vision for equality, violence against women and girls remains a challenge, with estimates from 38% to 59% of women and girls experiencing violence in their lifetime.   -END-   NOTES TO EDITORS The Spotlight Initiative, launched in September 2017, is a multi-year global partnership between the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. It represents an unprecedented global effort to invest in gender equality and women's empowerment as a precondition and driver for achieving sustainable development goals.   In the Pacific, the situation is particularly worrying. In some countries in the region, 76 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. Most affected are marginalised women and girls facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.   In Timor-Leste, the Spotlight Initiative was launched on 5 March 2020. It is being implemented through five UN agencies (ILO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, and UN Women), in support of the Government, and in close collaboration with the civil society, the World Health Organization (WHO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the UN Human Rights Advisor's Unit (HRAU).   The overall vision of the Spotlight Initiative in Timor-Leste is that women and girls enjoy their right to a life free of violence, within an inclusive and gender equitable Timor-Leste. The programme is aligned to the Timor-Leste "National Action Plan on Gender based Violence (NAP GBV) (2017-2021)" and National SDG Roadmap. It contributes to the elimination of domestic violence/ intimate partner violence (DV/IPV) by responding to the needs of women and girls and addressing the underlying causes of violence against women and girls, using a multi-sectoral and intersectional approach across the ecological model.   This involves strengthening and widening partnerships and solidarity across civil society, Government, media, private sector and development partners. The Initiative empowers individuals, equip institutions at national, sub-national and community levels with the policies, systems and mechanisms to prevent and respond to VAWG, and encourage the public to challenge harmful gender norms. Using innovative approaches, the Spotlight Initiative builds a social movement of diverse advocates and agents of change for gender equality and social inclusion.   The Spotlight initiative deploys targeted, large-scale investments to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific. For more information about the Spotlight Initiative, visit https://spotlightinitiative.org For media inquiries, please contact: Marino Mouzinho, Media Adviser, Office of the Secretary of State for Equality and Inclusion. Email: marinosmouzinho@gmail.com Stella D'Assis, Communication and Visibility Officer, EU Delegation to Timor-Leste. Email: stelladassis@outlook.com   Ahmed Saleem, Communications Officer, UN Resident Coordinator's Office. Email: mohammed.saleem@un.org

The study identifies the continuous impact of COVID-19 on households and businesses, with a specific focus on coping strategies adopted by vulnerable families, the informal sector and micro, small and medium enterprises.  While speaking at the launch, His Excellency Joaquim Amaral, Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs, noted, "With the sense of duty fulfilled at this stage of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Timor-Leste assures of its commitment to continue supporting those in need including families, communities, companies and businesses. I am convinced that the SEIA-2 report will provide the Government and other partners with relevant information and evidence on the COVID-19 impacts to guide the new policy formulation." SEIA-2 highlights how COVID-19 has magnified many of the underlying vulnerabilities within the country, including lack of basic infrastructure, reliance on imports, limited productive activities in the country, limited access to government services and limited technological capabilities. COVID-19 has negatively impacted many poorer households throughout the country. It has also affected formal and informal MSMEs in urban and remote areas that have exacerbated the impact of the pandemic. Many employees of MSMEs have lost employment during this period. Women employees, in particular, have been badly affected.  UN Resident Coordinator Mr Roy Trivedy said, "The pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges, but it also offers opportunities for us to build back and recover better. While we are at an important juncture of COVID19 recovery, it is worth reviewing the latest evidence presented by SEIA-2 and reconsidering the medium and long-term policies aligned with Timor-Leste's commitment toward the SDGs and leaving no one behind." The global economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on low-income and emerging economies. Timor-Leste experienced the largest GDP contraction since its independence. In March 2021, the Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) introduced lockdowns and other restriction measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These restrictions along with the global economic slowdown and oil price uncertainty, plunged the local economy into severe contraction, with expected real GDP per capita to slip down to the 2009 level. Timor-Leste's non-oil businesses, represented mainly through micro and small enterprises, continue to be squeezed by the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis with looming long-lasting adverse outcomes for many of the most vulnerable groups of people.  "While the COVID-19 crisis has exposed stark inequities, SEIA-2 offers the Government of Timor-Leste to reconsider and prioritise resilience to climate, health, and economic shocks in the framework of the economic recovery plan. The worst effects of COVID-19 can be minimised if the country's leadership continues committing to a new social contract and implements forward-looking and comprehensive programmes to tackle critical tipping points to lift the population from multi-dimensional poverty traps", said UNDP Resident Representative Munhktuya Altangerel.  The assessment is guided by the UN Secretary General's Framework for the Immediate Socio-Economic Response to COVID-19 (https://unsdg.un.org/resources/un-framework-immediate-socio-economic-response-covid-19 ), which set out the framework for the UN's urgent socio-economic support to countries and societies in the face of COVID-19, putting in practice the UN Secretary-General's Shared Responsibility, Global Solidarity report on the same subject (https://unsdg.un.org/resources/shared-responsibility-global-solidarity-responding-socio-economic-impacts-covid-19).   It is one of three critical components of the UN's efforts to save lives, protect people, and rebuild better, alongside the health response. The assessment has focused on a series of in-depth evaluations guided by the Framework for the Immediate Socio-Economic Response to COVID-19, analysing actual and potential losses for Timor-Leste's economy and vulnerable groups due to the COVID-19 pandemic. -END- BACKGROUND NOTE FOR EDITOR The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have devastating impacts on health, social, economic and environmental systems. Against this backdrop, decision-makers require flexible, rapid and evidence-based diagnostic tools to inform crucial interventions and policy decisions. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has developed the Digital Socio-economic Impact Assessment (SEIA) to provide governments with comprehensive and timely information for evidence-based decision-making in responding to the needs of affected populations and enterprises in the immediate, medium and long term. The UN's Framework for the Immediate Socio-Economic Response to the COVID 19 Crisis warns that "The COVID-19 pandemic is far more than a health crisis: it is affecting societies and economies at their core. While the impact of the pandemic will vary from country to country, it will most likely increase poverty and inequalities at a global scale, making the achievement of SDGs even more urgent. Assessing the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on societies, economies, and vulnerable groups is fundamental to inform and tailor the responses of governments and partners to recover from the crisis and ensure that no one is left behind in this effort. Globally, Governments sought to contain the spread of the disease by the oldest known method: quarantine and confinement. As a result of confinement methods, economic activity experienced the sharpest and most violent contraction on record. In Timor-Leste, the data point to a historical value of 8.7% in the contraction of our economy. In other words, a public health crisis has quickly turned into an economic and social crisis with the disruption of supply chains at local and global levels. The Government of Timor-Leste used unprecedented resources to strengthen the nation's responsiveness in the face of the pandemic adopting and implementing the Economic Recovery Plan with short term measures to be implemented in 2020 and 2021. Massive support was released to strengthen the health system, help companies and preserve employment. New measures were used to protect the income of those who found themselves deprived of work or business activities. Among those short-term measures, we highlight the emergency food basket, Cesta Basica, conceived as a universal measure to provide each Timorese citizen with a basket of food and hygiene products worth up to fifty ($50) dollars. With this programme, the Government intended, among others, to stimulate national production, increase the income of local farmers and traders and support the food and nutritional diet of ordinary Timorese families.  Today, when the programme is completed, more than one million, four hundred fifty-two thousand distributed baskets and almost eighty-three million dollars were injected to the economy. The dynamics introduced along to suppliers of goods and services and local producer is visible. The forecast for 2021 of 1.6% in economic growth reflects this impact that the Cesta Basica and other short term economic measures made to commerce, agriculture, the labour market and other sectors.  The Government's economic interventions helped create the opportunity for companies to continue their activities, despite the serious threats of closure or reduction in business volume, which hovered over them. The employment of many workers is secured and protected with the continuation of business activities. Many short term jobs were created through participation in the different stages of implementation of the Cesta Basica.  The COVID-19 pandemic is far more than a health crisis: it is affecting societies and economies at their core. The impact of the pandemic has varied from region to region. The pandemic has been exacerbated by the pre-existing conditions of poverty and inequalities in Timor-Leste, a small island developing state (SIDS), making the achievement of SDGs even more urgent. The recent Easter Flood deepened the crisis by affecting the most vulnerable population. Therefore, it was important for Timor-Leste, as the first key step, to gather essential data documenting the nation's economic, and social indicators to accurately and efficiently support the Government in policy-making and response measures. UNDP and UNFPA in close collaboration with other UN agencies, the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs (MCAE), and General Directorate of Statistics (GDS) under the Ministry of Finance,  assessed the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The result of the collaboration was the second Socio-Economic Impact Assessment-2 (SEIA-2) Report, launched today by the Government of Timor-Leste and the United Nations. SEIA-2 was a nationwide survey of 4,292 households and 1,086 micro, small and medium enterprises which aimed to understand how COVID-19, the easter flood, government sanitary fences, and government economic recovery measures had impacted Timorese household and micro, small and medium business across the country. In a country with 46% of the population already suffering from multi-dimensional poverty and 75% primarily reliant on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods, determining who counted among Timor-Leste's most vulnerable required a nuanced approach. SEIA-2 developed detailed social and economic matrices that allowed for data to be disaggregated across categories, including gender, age, location, disability status, and employment type. To isolate the impacts of the pandemic from the easter flood that Timor-Leste faced in the past 12 months, SEIA-2 covered changes felt between April 2020 and April 2021. In addition to data on economic impacts, SEIA-2 also established key indicators on how health, education, community resilience, and social cohesion had been affected throughout the first year of the pandemic. Promising findings in the survey included over 70% of Timorese saying community trust increased during the State of Emergency. The results of the study show that youth most hit by job loss and unemployment - the young adult's age group 25-39 were most affected --- 43.3% of them lost their jobs in 2020-2021. Although the Government fiscal response was strong, the most vulnerable household received the least benefits. Poorest households had used more severe livelihood coping strategies, such as borrowing money, selling livestock, and reducing education & health costs, and in most severe cases reducing the meal intake.  Gender disaggregation showed that women spent more time on domestic chores, particularly adult women. Women spent more time cooking and cleaning, water collection and family care.    FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES Antero Veiga,  Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs (MCAE). Email: anteroveiga@gmail.com  Ahmed Saleem, Communications Officer, UN Resident Coordinator's Office. Email: mohammed.saleem@un.org

BACKGROUND NOTE FOR EDITOR The United Nations played a vital role in Timor-Leste’s restoration of independence and democratic transition by helping organise the Popular Consultation in 1999. Since 2012, the UN in Timor-Leste has shifted its mandate from peacekeeping to strengthening stability and prosperity through sustainable development. The UN is an impartial, strategic partner supporting the Government of Timor-Leste as a Member State to fulfil international commitments and meet national aspirations to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Almost 20 years since the restoration of independence, Timor-Leste has emerged as a democratic and peaceful country focused on state-building and accelerating progress on sustainable development for all, regardless of gender, age, ability or other characteristics. UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being. The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the Charter had been ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of other signatories.  The UN System in Timor-Leste is led by the UN Resident Coordinator Roy Trivedy, who is the designated representative of the UN Secretary-General to Timor-Leste and is responsible for the coordination of development activities in the country.  All UN agencies come together with the Government of Timor-Leste and other development partners under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator to support the achievement of Timor-Leste’s national development priorities.  FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES Joanico Sarmento, Chief of Social Communications, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Email: cdcs01mnectimorleste@gmail.com  Ahmed Saleem, Communications Officer, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office. Email: mohammed.saleem@un.org