Government of Timor-Leste

The Secretariat of State for Equality, in partnership with UN Women Timor-Leste and the Equality Institute (EQI), organised a two-day seminar focused on strengthening the monitoring of the progress of the National Action Plan Against Gender-Based Violence (PAN-VBG). The event, held on July 9^th and 10 ^th, at Timor Plaza, brought together representatives from various sectors, including line ministries, municipal authorities, civil society organisations and development partners. 

The opening ceremony was chaired by the Secretary of State for Equality, Elvina Sousa Carvalho, accompanied by the Head of UN Women in Timor-Leste, Amy Nishtha Satyam, and the Equality Institute's Research and Partnerships Manager, Xian Warner. The event was also supported by KOICA through the Joint Programme "Together for Equality". 

During the seminar, clear objectives were set to strengthen the reporting and monitoring capacities of the NAP-GVP, in line with the framework of the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for Public Policies. Responsibilities for data collection were discussed and transparent processes for reporting this data to the Secretary of State for Equality were established, with the aim of continuously improving the implementation of this important national plan. 

The Secretary of State highlighted the relevance of this seminar for adapting and improving strategies and the "important role" of the institutions and added that "each institution has its responsibility especially in access to justice, monitoring and defending" this programme and "each party must work together to be able to respond to our demands on how to prevent and eliminate any kind of gender-based violence in our country".

The event was attended by representatives from 17 ministries, all the municipalities, as well as civil society organisations and development partners, all committed to collaborating on a more robust and efficient monitoring system to combat gender-based violence.