Timor-Leste

The Government of Timor-Leste adopted the second National Action Plan 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (NAP 1325) for the period 2024–2028 on 10 January 2024. The official launch ceremony, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Interior (MOI) with the support of UN Women, took place on 16 February 2024.The adoption of second NAP 1325 also demonstrates Government’s commitment to ASEAN road map where enhancing women’s participation in peace and rehabilitation processes is a key area of work. The NAP 1325 contributes directly to several SDGs particularly to SDG 5, 10, 11, 13 and 16. SDG 5:By directly addressing women's participation in leadership roles, combating gender-based violence, and promoting equal access to economic opportunities. SDG 10:By advocating for the inclusion of marginalized women and girls in peacebuilding processes. SDG 16: By promoting women's participation in peace negotiations and conflict resolution mechanisms. SDG 11:By addressing the specific needs of women and girls in urban settings during conflict and post-conflict situations. SDG 13:By integrating gender perspectives into climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.
The Timor-Leste Country Office (TLCO), played a pivotal role in the development and eventual adoption of the second NAP 1325. TLCO provided technical support to the MOI throughout the process which included capacity development of the key stakeholders, national consultations, drafting the NAP and validation workshops to finalise the NAP. It also supported the establishment of a technical NAP drafting team comprising government advisors, consultants, and experts. TLCO also ensured that the second NAP 1325 aligns closely with two sets of standards, Security Council resolution 1325, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action. MoI ensured a participatory and inclusive process; ensuring CSOs fully engage in the development process, and their voices, needs, and concerns were reflected in the second NAP, thereby ensuring shared ownership of the NAP at the local level. With TLCO’s facilitation of participatory and inclusive consultations, 15 government institutions and 14 civil society organizations (CSOs), including traditional leaders, faith-based groups, women’s groups, rural women, women with disabilities, survivors of past conflicts, and people with disabilities participated in the process. MOI also led the development of a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework to track the progress of NAP 1325. TLCO supported MOI in designing tools and identifying key indicators, data collection methodologies, and institutional responsibilities. The LM-CSO Workshop held by MoI with TLCO’s support in August 2024, provided a platform for finalizing M&E components for the NAP, ensuring robust accountability mechanisms.

In 2023, the government of Timor Leste, adopted one principal policy frameworks embedded in normative principles - the National Action Plan (NAP) 1325 in January 2024.
UNW provided extensive technical and advisory support in the development of the second-generation NAP 1325 in Timor-Leste. The development of the NAP 1325 was a multi-stakeholder and participatory process led by the Ministry of Interior, with the embedded technical support from UN Women, through national and international consultants. The Ministry of Interior and UNW jointly conducted rounds of consultation and validation workshops with government institutions, CSOs, and development partners at both national and municipal levels during the period of 2021-2023. UNW provided technical support in coordinating the consultations, and ensured that the representatives of women’s groups, rural women, women with disabilities, women survivors of past conflicts, people with disabilities, and the LGBTIQ + community were actively engaged in the consultations. In total, 15 government institutions and 14 civil society organizations were consulted and involved in developing and drafting the second NAP 1325, including new and non-traditional actors, for example, traditional leaders and faith-based group. Following the Parliamentary Election in May 2023, and the transition of new government in July 2023, UNW Timor-Leste continued to provide extensive technical and advisory support to the new Government and the Ministry of Interior in strengthening its capacity to plan, lead, coordinate the finalization and submission of the draft NAP 1325.

The approval of the NAP 1325 (2024-2028) by the Council of Ministers, signifies a robust commitment of the Government of Timor-Leste to plan, develop, implement and invest in advancing its national WPS agenda in the context of post-COVID-19 recovery and its accession into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

UNW's support contributed to the development of the NAP 1325, which serves as a holistic and multi-stakeholder national strategy to promote women’s full, meaningful and equal participation and leadership in peace and security, and community conflict prevention and resolution, disaster and humanitarian response, and to expand the contours of women’s roles in decision making in the security and justice sectors, and to all levels of governance. As a result of UN Women's advocacy efforts, non-traditional and emerging security threats were considered and incorporated into the framework of the second NAP 1325, which include climate change-induced disaster risks, anti-trafficking and its nexus to cybercrimes.

This result contributes directly to the SGD goal 5 and specifically to targets – 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.5 and to Outcome 5 of the UNSDCF - Accountable, Inclusive and Participatory Governance and Quality Public Services.