Brief outline of Concern's work in East Timor
Monday, 19 June 2006
Brief outline of Concern's work in East Timor
ON June 12th the UN launched a Flash Appeal requesting some $18.9 million for humanitarian assistance to Timor-Leste.
It is estimated that up to 133,000 people have been displaced by recent rioting and violence. Assessments by the UN and other NGOs have established 55 locations around Dili, which up to 70,000 displaced people have been forced to inhabit after fleeing their homes.
Concern started work in Timor Leste (East Timor) in September 1999, and is based in Dili, with field offices in Lautem (easternmost) and Manufahi (Central Highlands) districts. Up until September 2002, the country programme focused on bridging the gap between emergency and development and activities which included:
- Returnee Transit Site Management
- Women’s Economic Recovery & Empowerment
- Primary School Water and Sanitation Rehabilitation
The current programme aims to strengthen livelihood security in the rural Districts of Lautem and Manufahi (since January 2003) and build capacity in Latuem District for Disaster Risk Reduction in Lautem District only (since February 2005). The Concern Timor Leste currently currently works in partnerships with three Timorese NGOs.
In 2005 Concern began implementing their Emergency Supplementary Feeding & Nutrition Education Programme in three districts, responding to the high levels of malnutrition across the country. The programme only opened in December, Concern is planning to use the feeding as a first step to address the underlying causes of malnutrition which are related to knowledge, access to basic health care and food security. According to February figures, the proposed target number of beneficiaries (under 5years, pregnant & lactating mothers); 1,378 has been surpassed.
The Livelihoods Security and Civil Society Strengthening Programme ended in December 2005. A new Livelihoods programme was developed & finalised in 2006. This programme will include components to address the causal aspects of malnutrition. The security situation has meant that the new livelihoods programme has been unable to proceed as per the plan.
Capacity Building for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Lautem district, ended in 2006. DRR programme participated in a national workshop on Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) standards, bringing back lessons learned from the Bangkok workshop in January. A number of DRR projects focussed on assets accumulation and reducing the impact of drought were implemented in Lautem; inlcuding goat banks and improved rice production. A new application for DRR was submitted in May this year. Again, this will focus on enhancing the capacities of the target vulnerable populations (8,907 beneficiaries) to cope with flooding & drought through sustainable actions embedded in an integrated watershed management context.
Concern is a member of an NGO forum and this continues to operate throughout the emergency. It’s purpose is to strengthen the capacity & legitimacy of NGOs in the districts & in turn in able them to provide effective & long term support to the development of the communities in these districts.
