Timor-Leste advances climate and health resilience through health system strengthening

In a significant step toward strengthening Timor-Leste’s health system, a new Climate Health Vulnerability Assessment (CHVA) evaluates how a changing climate can impact human health and the wider implications for its health system. The assessment, conducted by the World Bank and government partners, lays out the substantial current and future health challenges Timor-Leste could face. These include exposing the population to dangerous climate hazards while also straining the health system through increased demand and pressures on health workers, physical infrastructure, and medical supply chains.

Building on the assessment, Timor-Leste’s Climate and Health Technical Working Group, led by the Ministry of Health, brought together government institutions, civil society, and development partners to review key findings and identify practical recommendations to strengthen the health system’s resilience to climate-related vulnerabilities.

With support from the Advance UHC, the event built on the momentum generated by the Health Financing for Universal Health Coverage Forum held in July 2025. The forum concluded that sustainable progress towards UHC and resilience to climate shocks requires stronger, more efficient health spending, better resource mobilization, improved human resources for health, and strategic investment in climate-resilient infrastructure and service delivery. These themes directly align with the priorities emerging from the CHVA, creating a unified pathway for health sector reform.

World Bank Group Resident Representative for Timor-Leste David Freedman commended the strong engagement from all ministries, emphasizing the workshop’s role in shaping action areas to guide future government efforts.

“This collaboration is vital for building a resilient health system that can withstand the challenges posed by climate change,” Freedman said.

Government officials, including representatives from the Ministry of Health and the National Directorate of Meteorology and Geophysics, acknowledged the growing impact of climate change on health services. They called for coordinated action across sectors to address vulnerabilities in infrastructure and population health.

Proposed recommendations that emerged from the assessment findings include:

·      Human Capital Development: The first set of recommendations emphasize the need for filling health workforce shortages and addressing uneven distribution by deploying health workers to climate-vulnerable areas, upskilling community health volunteers, expanding pre-qualification training, and exploring the potential benefits of low-tech digital tools. This builds on the forum’s focus on addressing shortages in human resources for health and improving distribution equity.

·      Climate Resilient Health Systems: These recommendations emphasized the need for improved climate sensitive budget planning and addressing supply chain delays and coordination gaps, by improving the use of data and digital technologies when providing care. These directly mirror forum discussions on better budget execution, financial accountability, and efficient procurement.

·      Climate-Resilient Health Facilities: These recommendations highlight the need for ongoing access to clean water and electricity in health facilities, ongoing advocacy for WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), and better coordination among ministries. The need for long-term financing for resilient facility construction reflects the forum’s emphasis on mobilizing and allocating resources for infrastructure investment.

·      Emergency Preparedness and Response: These recommendations highlight the integration of emergency systems and procedures, development of community-based early warning systems, volunteer training, evacuation procedures for persons with disabilities, and collaboration with the Ministry of Education to use schools as evacuation centers. Recommendations include improving warehouse management and emergency storage of medicines and test kits, as well as establishing mobile medical teams and evacuation centers in every city. These measures will require strategic financing and long-term system investments.

Timor-Leste is now better positioned to build a resilient health system that protects its population from growing climate-related threats while continuing to progress toward universal health coverage.

The assessment underlines the importance of health system resilience that enables Timor-Leste to meet its national goals, including job creation—a cornerstone of the country's development strategy. The government is actively prioritizing employment through targeted infrastructure investment, economic diversification, and the strengthening of institutions. This vision is closely aligned with World Bank President Ajay Banga’s emphasis that jobs are not merely economic opportunities but fundamental drivers of dignity, resilience, and human development. By embedding climate-smart strategies into employment and sectoral planning, Timor-Leste can generate sustainable jobs, improve health and social outcomes, and reduce vulnerability to climate change. This illustrates how economic growth, climate resilience, and human development are interconnected, creating a cycle of opportunity, resilience, and lasting prosperity.

A validated version of the Climate and Health Vulnerability Assessment, updated with recommendations from the workshop, will be published in early 2026 and be publicly available as a reference work for government, development, and civil society partners.