Timor-Leste

Since the onset of the global financial crisis, there has been an upswing of interest among some prominent policy makers and academics in the International Monetary... Show More + Fund's (IMF) Special Drawing Right (SDR) as a 'safe' international reserve asset. But preexisting constraints on the SDR and the magnitude of support required to push through the reforms necessary to enhance the SDR's role make it unlikely that ambitious aspirations for this 'quasi-currency' will be realized. Moreover, the case for enhancing the SDR's role has been somewhat overstated, as has the view that the current international monetary system requires the dominance of a single currency, namely the U.S. dollar. To a significant extent, U.S. dollar dominance is the result of specific policy choices by individual countries (for example, export-led growth strategies, close links to the U.S. dollar) rather than an inherent rigidity in the international monetary system. Many of the problems that some policy makers are seeking to address through a greater role for the SDR can more easily be achieved in the context of the continuing trend to a multicurrency reserve system. Show Less -

After East Timor's independence in 1999, a militia invasion destroyed most of the country's infrastructure and nearly its entire electrical grid. Seven years later,... Show More + shortly after becoming the state of Timor-Leste, conflict arose again which required the intervention of a peacekeeping mission to regain stability. Timor-Leste's large share of youth population (45 percent of the country population is younger than 15 years old) provides a window of opportunity for high growth and poverty reduction the demographic dividend. But for this opportunity to result in accelerated growth, the government needs to invest in the human capital formation of its youth. Gender equality and women's empowerment are important for improving reproductive health. In Timor-Leste, slightly fewer numbers of girls are enrolled in secondary schools compared to boys with a ratio of female to male primary enrollment of 94 percent. Three-fifths of adult women participate in the labor force that mostly involves work in agriculture. Economic progress and greater investment in human capital of women will not necessarily translate into better reproductive outcomes if women lack access to reproductive health services. It is thus important to ensure that health systems provide a basic package of reproductive health services, including family planning. Show Less -

The health equity and financial protection datasheets provide a picture of equity and financial protection in the health sectors of low-and middle-income countries.... Show More + Topics covered include: inequalities in health outcomes, health behavior and health care utilization; benefit incidence analysis; financial protection; and the progressivity of health care financing. The tables in this report show how health outcomes, risky behaviors and health care utilization vary across asset (wealth) quintiles and periods. The quintiles are based on an asset index constructed using principal components analysis. Benefit-Incidence Analysis (BIA) shows whether, and by how much, government health expenditure disproportionately benefits the poor. The distribution of subsidies depends on the assumptions made to allocate subsidies to households. Under the constant unit cost assumption, each unit of utilization is assumed to cost the same and is equal to total costs incurred in delivering this type of service divided by the number of units of utilization. Show Less -

This briefing note examines perspectives on trust, authority, and responsibility for decision making in Timor-Leste, using findings from the justice module included... Show More + in an extension of the 2007 Timor-Leste Survey of Living Standards (TLSLS2) and a review of relevant social-science literature. It is hoped that this report will be a valuable resource for civil servants, civil society, and donor agencies working in Timor-Leste. This note examines relationships among East Timorese, focusing on trust, views on authority, and decision-making power. It begins by discussing the relationships between individuals specifically, trust in one's neighbors and perspectives on safety. While trust is essentially about these interpersonal relationships, research has shown that high levels of trust are associated with improved economic outcomes and better maintenance of public goods. Thus, trust within a society is important for a much wider set of outcomes. In later sections, the authors move to a discussion of individuals' relationships with institutions through the lens of community participation and beliefs about responsibility for dispute resolution. Throughout, the authors attempt to explain unusual findings or trends, making reference to relevant social-science literature. However, the authors also note where satisfying explanations have not been found, and welcome additional feedback and discussion on these areas. Show Less -

This report examines land access, disputes, and dispute resolution in Timor-Leste, using findings from the justice module included in an extension of the 2007 Timor... Show More + -Leste Survey of Living Standards (TLSLS2) and a review of relevant social-science literature. The extension survey (TLSLSx) revisited a nationally representative subsample of the TLSLS2 between April and October 2008. The respondent for the justice module was randomly selected to be the household head or his/her spouse, and the TLSLSx revisited 1,716 respondents across Timor-Leste's thirteen districts. Survey topics included: (1) access to information and decision making; (2) opinions and knowledge of the law; (3) trust and local institutions; and (4) dispute resolution. Findings from this survey have been summarized in three short briefing papers focusing on land and conflict, youth perspectives, and community trust and decision making. Show Less -

As in other societies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, customary social organization features strongly in rural Timor-Leste. As well as providing avenues for conf... Show More + lict resolution, the influence of customary systems extends to land tenure. As the state, development partners, private investors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and others seek to promote rural development in Timor-Leste, they will be forced to engage in some way with customary ownership and use claims which prevail in the districts. A further dimension of the subsistence nature of the Timor-Leste economy is the fact that the use of contracts in connection with agribusiness transactions is rare. This presents a further challenge to the objective of increasing private sector investment in the rural economy. Based on field visits, this Justice for the Poor (J4P) briefing note looks at the rural economy of Timor-Leste and considers approaches that could help promote productive and equitable relationships between communities and other rural development partners and contribute to mutually beneficial rural development outcomes. Show Less -

The missing link presents a conceptual approach to help policy-makers recognize the societal challenges of post-conflict countries and their relation to governance ... Show More + and long-term stability. The publication shows the shortcoming of the current state-building and reconstruction approach, and it provides policy and operational suggestions on how to design and deliver more effective post-conflict assistance. This study calls for a change in the way the international aid community operates. It is a fresh and comprehensive look at governance issues that has been missing in the post-conflict reconstruction and state-building debate. Practitioners will profit from the assessment guide and tool-kit included. Three case studies-Burundi, Timor Leste, and Liberia serve as examples, illustrating how to understand and approach the policy and operational challenges encountered in the field. Show Less -