The National Institute of Statistics receives WFP computer equipment to strengthen its capacity to analyse statistical data
Today, February 6th, 2024, the National Institute of Statistics of Timor-Leste, I.P. (INETL) received a donation of computer equipment from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) as part of an ongoing partnership to support INETL in strengthening its role as a national statistical data production service provider.
INETL, under the Ministry of Finance, is the public institute responsible for providing the statistics needed by the Government to quantify the country's actual situation and plan its economic development.
The donated computers will boost this public institute's capacity to manage and analyse large volumes of data, enabling INETL to analyse datasets on critical national issues such as food insecurity and inflation. The equipment will also allow INETL to provide essential data to other government institutions.
Improving INETL's capacity to produce and analyse statistical data will also make it possible to provide national leaders with the data they need to monitor the implementation of Timor-Leste's National Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals successfully. 
At the handover ceremony, INETL President Elias dos Santos Ferreira stated, "The two computers delivered today will support the processing and analysis of census data with a focus on providing information relating to the vulnerability module of the censuses". He also added, "Thank you to the WFP for the support provided today and in the past, and we will continue to work together for the well-being of the Timorese ".
Since 2021, this public institute has received 100 tablets from the WFP to support planning activities and the carrying out the first digitised Census and the fourth Demographic and Housing Census in Timor-Leste. Since then, strengthening this partnership has made it possible to contribute to addressing the country's food security challenges through the production of Food Security Bulletins, knowledge sharing in market assessment, training and workshops on market dynamics. 
In 2023, through CONSSAN-TL (Timor-Leste's National Council for Food Security, Sovereignty and Nutrition), the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Forestry and INETL also received support from the WFP to carry out the revision of price data questionnaires and the monthly collection and analysis of price monitoring data. INETL, also in collaboration with the WFP, carried out the most extensive face-to-face food security assessment ever carried out in the country and the second training and analysis of Timor-Leste's Integrated Food Security Phases Classification (IPC) in 2023.
Present at the ceremony, the WFP Country Representative in Timor-Leste, Alba Cecilia Garzon Olivares, said that "in an increasingly complex world, data is a vital tool, providing valuable information, enabling informed decision-making and driving innovation. The WFP is committed to supporting the Government in strengthening data analysis. We look forward to our upcoming collaboration with INETL on the Census data vulnerability module to support the Ministry of Social Solidarity and Inclusion in making decisions about the Social Protection sector."
