Timor-Leste

What are the structural barriers to women's empowerment and inclusive development in Southeast Asia? Building on data from the fifth edition of the SIGI, the SIGI 2024 Regional Report for Southeast Asia: Time to Care provides new evidence-based analysis on the progress and setbacks in eliminating the root causes of gender inequality in 11 countries of the region. It underscores how multiple personal status laws perpetuate gender-based legal discrimination. The analysis also shows that social norms governing gender roles and responsibilities worsened between 2014 and 2022, particularly affecting women’s educational and economic rights. The report explores a critical policy area for the region, the care economy. Stressing the gendered, informal, and unpaid dimensions of care, it draws on social, demographic, educational and economic evidence to forecast a growing demand for care services in Southeast Asian countries. The report advocates for the strategic development of formal care systems as a unique opportunity to accelerate women's economic empowerment, build inclusive societies and strengthen the region's resilience to external shocks – including those induced by climate change. To dismantle the barriers that prevent the emergence and expansion of such a formal care economy, it provides concrete recommendations to policy makers and other stakeholders.

The public sectors of African Portuguese-speaking countries and Timor-Leste (PALOP-TL) have made significant progress in mobilising digital technologies to promote internal efficiency, simplify government procedures and improve the delivery of public services. Nevertheless, fully harnessing these technologies to improve growth, opportunities for income and employment, and public service delivery requires a more profound shift from efficiency-driven to citizen-driven approaches. This cross-country review of the digital transformation of the public sectors in Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste reviews progress towards digital government and suggests strategies for enabling more effective, collaborative and sustainable digital government policies and approaches in PALOP-TL countries. These recommendations address three main areas: digital solutions for the delivery of core government functions, foundations for a digital government transformation, and digital services for citizens and businesses.

This report reviews the implementation in Timor-Leste of the Principles for Good International Engagement in Fragile States and Situations two years after they were endorsed by ministers of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, and identifies priority areas to improve the collective impact of international engagement. The Timor-Leste Country Report reflects the findings from a national consultation among stakeholders representing both national and international institutions, complemented by interviews and data collection.