Government of Timor-Leste

On December 10, 2011, the Government of Timor-Leste, through the Ministry of Justice, commemorated the 63.⁰ World Human Rights Day with celebrations in the district of Liquiçá, which included a seminar entitled: "Ensuring the Right Access to Land and Promote National Development and Launch of the Delivery of Certificate to Land Owners".

In her speech the Minister of Justice, Lúcia Lobato, stressed the importance "of this day for all of us to reflect on human rights. I take this opportunity to give the certificate of land title to the land owners, as a first step towards official recognition of the rights of citizens in general, starting in the districts of Liquiçá, Manatuto and Ainaro.

We all know that the Government is taking appropriate measures in order to promote human rights, taking into account that human rights represent a very broad scale. We want to build a just society, with social equality and security for all who wish to buy and sell land, or invest in businesses".

The Program Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Nikiku Tanaka, on behalf of the UN, congratulated the Ministry of Justice for the organization of this event and stressed the importance of access to land rights, as a fundamental tool for developing Timor-Leste.

The Interim Prime Minister José Luís Guterres, stated that "looking back all the Timorese people should feel satisfied, because we live in freedom and democracy, but the government recognizes that a greater part of the population have not enjoyed the benefits of independence achieved by all. Many families still live in poverty. Only in some places is there electricity for 24 hours. However, everyone knows that the Government is firmly committed to work for the welfare of all Timorese people".