Timor-Leste and UNDP sign agreement of National Diagnosis and Institutional Strengthening at the Local Level
The Government of Timor-Leste, through the Office of the Secretary of State of Institutional Strengthening (SEFI), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) signed, on April 16th, an agreement in support of the Program of National Diagnosis and Institutional Strengthening at the Local Level.
UNDP provides technical support through its experts in the area of institutional strengthening and national diagnosis. This support is intended to devise strategies and content relating to strengthening, as well as methodologies and tools for the implementation of the Program of National Diagnosis. The cost for this cooperation (included in the 2015 General State Budget) is 500 thousand dollars.
This amount, which is shared between the UNDP and SEFI, will be used to finance the activities already planned, which reflect the content of the document on the Cooperation Program entitled "Sub-national Governance and Development Program, 2014-2018". This cooperation has been established in June 2014, between SEFI and UNDP and aims to ensure that, when the municipalities are established, in 2018, employees are able to manage and deliver services in a responsible, transparent and efficient way.
Minister Dionísio Babo emphasized that this agreement will give continuity to the political program of the Fifth Government. SEFI and UNDP have been developing this cooperation since 2014, in order to create the powers needed for the pre-deconcentration. The Minister also said that, in order to create administrative and management skills, in line with an efficient system of government, responsible and effective - for good governance, from national to local level - it is necessary to establish basic procedures that respond to the current situation, within a framework of one single plan, one vision and one action.
"UNDP is grateful for the confidence of the Government of Timor-Leste in cooperation for development, both in these areas and others", said Knut Ostby, resident coordinator of the United Nations and representative of UNDP in Timor-Leste.
The United Nation’s program will continue to develop this network of services of global and regional political incidence, to disseminate know-how and lessons that support the effective implementation of a decentralization reform in the country.
The Strategic Development Plan of Timor-Leste for 2011-2030, in line with the Constitution regarding decentralization through institutional strengthening, creates opportunities for local democratic participation. This commitment is reflected in the five year program of decentralization, through the creation of at least 3 to 5 municipalities by the end of 2017.
Attending the ceremony were Francisco Soares Burlaku, Interim Director of UNDP and representatives of the Government and state institutions, as well as Development partners and officials from UNDP and other UN organizations.
