Outcome TLS_D_2.1

By 2025, institutions and people throughout Timor-Leste in all their diversity, especially women and youth, benefit from sustainable economic opportunities and decent work to reduce poverty.

UN Women in Timor-Leste is facilitating opportunities and advocating for mitigating impact of fuel crisis and enabling environment that women, especially youth, rural women, and women with disabilities to benefit from economic opportunities and decent work to reduce poverty. 304 Self-employed women and women-owned MSMEs have enhanced understanding and capacity in entrepreneurship skills through learning sessions UN Women delivered in partnership Chamber of Commerce Timor Leste, Timor Aid and Alola Foundation and Baucau Municipal Authority and solar-energy food carts and equipment provided in partnership with UNDP. 121 women owned enterprises in food related business were identified in 3 municipalities Dili, Liquica, and Manatuto and assessed on capacity building and equipment needs to support their business. The Responsible Party is contracted to develop a tailored curriculum and delivery trainings on financial literacy, business plan, and marketing. 36 selected women entrepreneurs completed the training will be provided with equipment and solar panel. 9 selected women through challenge competition will be provided with solar-energy food carts to support their business. 147 weavers (144 women and 3 men) from Baucau, Viqueque and Covalima municipalities have increased their understanding on tais product diversification, use of natural dye, leadership, gender-based violence by participating in the training provided by TAFA. 78 market vendors (39 women and 39 men) in Baucau municipality benefitted from training on financial literacy, GBV and leadership. In addition, UN Women contributed to creating enabling environment for decent work and women’s economic autonomy through strengthening gender-responsive governance for rural women. In 2022, through the support from UN Women Ministry of Public Works and Baucau Municipal Authority have increased their gender-responsive budget in financing their commitments in gender responsive public infrastructure and safety in public spaces.

By 2025, institutions and people throughout Timor-Leste in all their diversity, especially women and youth, benefit from sustainable economic opportunities and decent work to reduce poverty.

In 2024, UN Women Timor-Leste made significant strides in fostering sustainable economic opportunities and decent work for women, youth, and marginalized groups, directly contributing to poverty reduction and economic empowerment. Through strategic partnerships with government entities, civil society organizations, and international platforms, UN Women strengthened its efforts to empower excluded populations and enhance Timor-Leste’s economic landscape. A landmark achievement was the establishment and expansion of the National Weavers Association (Rede Soru Na’in, RSN) across all 13 municipalities of Timor-Leste. With UN Women’s support, RSN membership grew from 600 to over 1,600, including men and LGBTQI+ individuals, transforming the association into a dynamic platform for peer networking, collective voice building, and economic empowerment. The opening of a community shop in Dili, facilitated by UN Women, served as a vital link between rural artisans and national and international markets, generating USD 92,140 in sales in 2024 alone. This initiative directly supplemented the income of over 300 women and further demonstrated the economic potential of Timor-Leste’s artisans. The Government of Timor-Leste recognized and appreciated the RSN initiative for its impact, which aligns with SDG 5. A(economic empowerment of women) and UNSDCF Outcome 5, focusing on empowering excluded populations to access opportunities, claim their rights and fully participate in economic, social, and community life. RSN’s prominence was further solidified through advocacy and leadership initiatives, including its General Assembly at the President’s Palace, where key decisions to ensure the association’s sustainability and growth were made. UN Women also fostered strategic partnerships with key government bodies, including the Secretary of State for Arts and Culture (SEAC), the Secretary of State for Civil Protection (SOSCP), and the Secretary of State for Vocational Training and Employment (SEFOPE). These partnerships are set to facilitate coordinated actions to strengthen gender-responsive policies and programs at both national and sub-national levels, creating pathways for inclusive economic development. Through these efforts, UN Women has demonstrated its commitment to economically empowering women from marginalized groups and transforming Timor-Leste’s economic landscape, paving the way for sustainable growth and social inclusion.

By 2025, institutions and people throughout Timor-Leste in all their diversity, especially women and youth, benefit from sustainable economic opportunities and decent work to reduce poverty.

Rural women represent 31.22% of the population in Timor-Leste and are amongst those furthest behind in accessing their economic rights and livelihood opportunities. In 2018, the Government of Timor-Leste adopted the second Maubisse Declaration to improve the lives of rural women and girls over a five-year period (2018-2023). Declaration targets include policies that ensure 30% of those employed on public infrastructure projects in rural areas are women, greater participation of women-owned businesses, and improved disaggregated of data for better monitoring of public infrastructure project implementation. Recognizing that Tais weaving is a sector with potential do enable rural women to be economically empowered, UN Women has consistently invested in supporting women weavers as a sub-group particularly marginalized. The network includes 600 rural women from across the country organised in municipal subgroups that now access to organised capacity building, business orientation, marketing, and other forward linkages. These forward linkages include a range of upskilling initiative such as access to gender responsive production infrastructure, upmarket commercial retail spaces and a coalition of global designer as advisory group to support product diversification. The weaver’s group has its own following on social media that includes the honourable President of Timor Leste. Further, the women weaver’s economic collective with the support of UN Women launched the first ever upscale retail space completely owned and managed by Women Weavers in the heart of Dili, the capital city generating generating a total revenue of 33,432.50 USD from August - December 2023. The store, first of its kind, is a critical milestone in the efforts of government and development partners in the country to strengthen women’s associations, while at the same time safeguarding and promoting the traditional art of Tais in Timor-Leste.

By 2025, institutions and people throughout Timor-Leste in all their diversity, especially women and youth, benefit from sustainable economic opportunities and decent work to reduce poverty.

Progress towards the outcome indicator is on track in providing and facilitating opportunities and advocating for enabling environment that women, especially youth, rural women, and women with disabilities to benefit from economic opportunities and decent work to reduce poverty. UN Women contributed to income security, decent work and economic autonomy of 308 women and 117 men, 160 rural women (Tais weavers) in Lautem and Oe Cusse and (157 women and 3 men) including 48 youths (47 women and 1 man) by knowledge development on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, product development and marketing through capacity building sessions provided by Timor Aid, Alola Foundation, ANZ Bank and Women’s Empowerment Principles signatory, who provided on Pro-Bono financial literacy training to the weavers. In continuing advocating for decent work and women’s economy autonomy, UN Women published the analysis on challenges of women in the Tourism sector in Timor-Leste and provided policy recommendations for the relevant stakeholders. The “ For equality and the economy: Exploring the Gender Dimensions of Timor-Leste’s tourism sector” had helped the Ministry of Tourism and Industry secure funding to support community tourism project from the UN World Tourism Organization. “The pieces of evidence from the “ For equality and the economy: Exploring the Gender Dimensions of Timor-Leste’s tourism sector” report had helped us make a case and secured funding for Women Empowerment and Tourism Recovery Project in Timor Leste from the UN World Tourism Organization through the Enhance Integrated Framework Fund” quoted H.E. Ms. Inacia da Conceicao Terxeira, Vice Minister for Community and Cultural Tourism. The report launching event also provided platform for knowledge sharing by the key stakeholders in tourism and hospitality and providing insights on how private sector can play active role in recognizing inequality and promoting women empowerment within the organizations. In addition, UN Women conducted research on unpaid care work situations in Timor -Leste to assess situations and provide policy recommendations, including comparing burden on unpaid care work and domestic works before and during COVID-19 pandemic. This research provided evidence to advocate for policy recommendations to improve conditions that holding back progress on women's economic empowerment. The findings stated disproportionate burden on unpaid care work responsible by women compared to men and highlighted the importance of improving the coverage of social protection and public services, and investment in the care economy, empowering women economic capacity through education and decent paid work, advocating and sensibilizing the issues of unpaid care work with the local authorities and local communities, strengthening mutual dialogue and cooperation with the government as well as with development partners and CSOs. UN Women contributed to creating enabling environment for decent work and women’s economic autonomy through strengthening gender-responsive governance for rural women. In 2021, UN Women signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Baucau Municipal Authority on the four-year (2021-2024) collaboration aiming at enhancing gender-responsive policy in markets management, building the capacity of the market vendors.