DILI, 14 may 2024 (TATOLI) – The Government of Timor-Leste, in partnership with the United Nations, has launched the 2022 Census Thematic Report.
The Government of Timor-Leste, through the National Institute of Statistics, a public institution, has been collecting information on every resident in the country since the beginning of the census on september 5, to support the planning and budgeting of development programs in Timor-Leste.
This will be crucial, as Timor-Leste has one of the youngest populations in Asia, with young people making up more than 70 percent of its population.
During the launching ceremony, Finance Minister Santina Cardoso emphasized the importance of data in development planning to achieve the SDGs and the National Strategic Development Plan.
‘Our government is sincerely committed to using data to optimize development planning. Timor-Leste has made a political commitment to implement the Global Agenda of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), so this report has come at an opportune time with indicators that will measure the progress made. This data will also provide progress in implementing the National Strategic Development Plan (DSN 20211-2030), but also the various sectoral strategic plans for Health and Education,’ said Minister Cardoso at the Ministry of Finance, in Dili, on tuesday.
Maternal health is one of the country’s priority health programs: “As fertility continues to decline from an average of 4.5 children per woman during her lifetime in 2015 to 3.6 children, the number of recent births is also declining among women of all ages. The government has therefore made a major investment in the health sector to provide sexual and reproductive health services. The Ministry of Health and its partners will be able to review the plans using the indicators that have been presented for each municipality.’
The Acting Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Timor-Leste, Bilal Aurang Zeb Durrani, emphasized that the launch of the thematic reports reminds all parties of the need to review the objectives set for the development of various sectors, including health, education, and housing: ‘So that the work of these sectors corresponds to the realities on the ground. In addition, the report will inform stakeholders about the crucial needs of vulnerable groups, who are left behind in the country’s development, such as those living in rural areas, as well as those who have never been to school, etc.’
The United Nations Acting Resident Coordinator, Bilal Aurang Zeb Durrani stressed that the launching of the thematic reports reminds all parties to review the targets set for the development of various sectors, including health, education, and housing: “So that these sectors’ work matches the realities on the ground. In addition, these reports will inform stakeholders on the crucial needs of vulnerable groups, that are left behind in the country’s development such as those in rural areas, as well as those that have never gone to school, etc.”
‘As a United Nations family, we are proud to collaborate with the government to support all efforts that contribute to making data available for development planning and policy-making,’ added Durrani.
Investing in the collection of population-based data will help the country harness the potential of all its residents, including those that are traditionally marginalized, for example; women, young people, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.
Since 2004, the UNFPA has continued to provide technical assistance to the government through the National Institute of Statistics to carry out the census.
Globally, UNFPA supports countries in population and housing censuses, and other population-based surveys through long-standing partnerships with Statistics Offices around the world.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Filomeno Martins
