Timor-leste

Timor-Leste, a Southeast Asian country with a growing population of 1.3 million, faces frequent droughts, flooding, landslides, and earthquakes. With 42% living below the national poverty line and 70% in multidimensional poverty, climate change is causing more frequent, severe, and unpredictable events, negatively impacting the population, economy, and sustainable development efforts. 

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Fragility/Conflict status: Institutional and social fragility  
Programme type: Accelerated Support Window 
Funding: $249,165   
Duration: Aug 2024–Dec 2025
Status: Completed

Key goals

  • Strengthen the country’s disaster losses and damages accounting mechanism.
  • Promote people-centered early warning systems catering to the need of persons with disabilities and women.
  • Support national disaster management agency and hydromet office to lead and coordinate the operation and actions for people-centered multi-hazard early warning systems.

Key results

  • The “Losses and Damages Assessment Methodology” and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were established to track disaster losses and damages.
  • The “Study on the Reach and Effectiveness of Early Warning Systems” was completed based on 909 household surveys and 27 focus group discussions across eight municipalities. 
  • The project operationalized inter-ministerial coordination on disaster losses and damages by convening over 34 senior officials and technical representatives from key ministries (Public Works, Agriculture, Health, and Finance) through national stakeholder workshops.

Spotlight

Steps taken in the right direction for championing the ambition of EW4All 

The Timor-Leste National Adaptation Plan 2021 focuses on improving early warning systems to mitigate climate hazards and disaster risks. Resources are being mobilized to strengthen observation, monitoring, and forecasting capabilities. The Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) supports upper air monitoring equipment. Community preparedness is being enhanced, and the National Framework for Climate Service Strategic Plan (2023-2028) sets priorities for early warning systems. 

Timor-Leste’s 2023 mid-term review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) highlights weaknesses in risk knowledge, including a lack of systematic collection of disaster-related statistics, neglect of vulnerable populations, and inadequate monitoring of early warning systems. Historical disaster statistics are crucial for targeting warning messages, resource allocation, and understanding traditional disaster-impacted areas, improving impact-based forecasting and broader disaster risk reduction. The proposed action contributes to the ambition of Early Warnings for All (EW4ALL) initiative championed by the UN Secretary General.  

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