Government of Timor-Leste

On January 24^th, 2025, the IX Constitutional Government, through the Ministry of State Administration, inaugurated the One-Stop Shop in Baucau Municipality, the second to be implemented in the country. This initiative is part of the Strategy for Administrative Decentralization and the Installation of representative bodies of Local Power, recently approved by the Council of Ministers, and aims to bring public services closer to citizens, modernizing and simplifying administrative processes. 

At the inauguration ceremony, the Minister of State Administration, Tomás do Rosário Cabral, highlighted the importance of this structure in facilitating citizens' access to public services, stressing that “since the opening of the first One Stop Shop in Manatuto, from May to December 2024, more than 4,000 citizens from Dili, Baucau, Viqueque and Lautem have already benefited from these services, including the issuing of more than 2,000 identity cards, more than 500 passports and more than 1,000 criminal certificates”.

The President of the Baucau Municipal Authority, Veneranda Lemos, thanked the government and the UNDP for their support in making this infrastructure a reality, saying that “the One Stop Shop was designed to bring administrative processes closer to the people and make it easier for them to interact with government services”. 

The Minister of Justice, Sérgio de Jesus Fernandes da Costa Hornai, stressed that “the Ministry of Justice is working on the mapping and expansion of the General Directorate of Registries and Notaries to strengthen the state's presence in communities, to ensure quality and efficient services to the satisfaction of citizens”. 

UNDP's Deputy Resident Representative, Adeline Carrier, reinforced the organization's commitment to supporting administrative decentralization in Timor-Leste, announcing the expansion of the “partnership with the Ministry of State Administration to install more One-Stop Shops in other municipalities” and expressing her belief “that this initiative will not only strengthen citizen participation, but will also stimulate greater participation in local governance”. 

The Baucau One-Stop Shop will provide services such as issuing identity cards, birth certificates, passports and criminal records, serving a population of approximately 138,878 inhabitants. There will also be close collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Social Solidarity and Inclusion to integrate new services that make life easier for citizens and strengthen transparency and good governance.

The ceremony was also attended by the Vice-Minister for Institutional Strengthening, Paulo Manuel da S. dos Remédios, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Funmi Balogun, the Ambassador of the European Union, Marc Friedrich, the President of the BNCTL Executive Committee, António Vítor, the Commander of the PNTL of the Municipality of Baucau, the Presidents of the Municipal Authorities of Viqueque and Lautém, as well as other representatives of community leaders, public institutions and the Baucau community. 

The implementation of the One-Stop Shops is part of the Strategy for Administrative Decentralization and the Installation of Representative Bodies of Local Government 2025-2028, approved by the Council of Ministers on January 15, 2025. This plan foresees the gradual installation of these administrative services throughout the country, as well as the creation of the necessary conditions for holding municipal elections and capacity building for future municipal and community leaders.

The first One-Stop Shop was inaugurated in May 2024 in Manatuto by the Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, marking a significant step in the government's commitment to bringing public administration closer to citizens. With the expansion of this model, the aim is to guarantee a more efficient, transparent and accessible service to the entire population, contributing to the sustainable and inclusive development of Timor-Leste.