Today, December 16th, 2022, the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, signed a Program Implementation Agreement (PIA) with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for the implementation of the Compact Agreement.

The signing of this implementation agreement represents an important step towards the beginning of the implementation of the MCC Compact, with a global amount of 484 million, which was signed by Minister Fidelis last July. 

This programme, to be implemented over five years and with a total investment of US$484 million, has two main components, for the improvement of two very important areas for the development of Timor-Leste, education and sanitation, water supply and drainage.

The water, sanitation and drainage component aims to reduce the contamination of drinking water and groundwater, which can cause diseases and impede the well-being and health of children and adults. The project includes the construction of a factory to produce chemical disinfectants for the city’s water supply, construction of the country’s first central wastewater system, improvement of the drainage network for the capital Dili and four neighbouring municipalities, policy and institutional reforms as well as social and behavioural changes to improve the sanitation system and water management at the household level.

The water, sanitation and drainage project, besides its direct impact on the health of our citizens, will also contribute to reducing the risk of flooding, which has affected our country so much in recent years, avoiding its environmental and socio-economic impacts by ensuring sustainable management of water and sanitation.

The education component aims to improve the quality of high school education for students by improving high school education and school leadership across the country. The project will establish the country’s first formal initial teacher training certification institution, the Centre of Excellence, which will offer professional training and certification for future and current high school teachers and leaders. Investing in teacher training will lead to better high schools, with students who will be better prepared for jobs or a post-high school education, and thus improve their ability to contribute to the economic growth of the country.

The next step will be to establish the Millennium Challenge Account-Timor-Leste Public Institute, which the Government approved at the Council of Ministers meeting on November 23rd, 2022. This public institute will act as an instrument of implementation of the funding to be donated by the U.S. Government agency MCC and will be responsible for managing the funding and coordinating the implementation to be promoted through national entities. Project implementation will be the responsibility of the Government, through the national entities, following their respective competencies.