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UNICEF lauds progress in health and education in Timor-Leste

UNICEF lauds progress in health and education in Timor-Leste

As Timor-Leste, the world’s newest nation and youngest democracy, marks its second anniversary, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) praised the dramatic improvements in health and education services for children in the southeast Asian country but warned that considerable challenges still remain.

As Timor-Leste, the world’s newest nation and youngest democracy, marks its second anniversary, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) praised the dramatic improvements in health and education services for children in the southeast Asian country but warned that considerable challenges still remain.

“In Timor-Leste, children make up 60 per cent of the population. Only by meeting their basic needs can the country hope to sustain a broader process of development,” UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific Mehr Khan said in a statement.

Levels of political will and popular optimism are extraordinarily high, and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has stated firmly that good education and health are the foundations of good governance and enduring peace for the country of some 800,000 people, which became independent from Indonesia on 20 May 2002.

Immunization coverage has increased by more than half to 60 per cent and Vitamin A supplements are now provided to 99 per cent of children under 5. Mobile registration teams, which have already registered more than 17,000 children, are expanding across the country. Nearly 4,000 women and children have been empowered through literacy classes.

But Timor-Leste still faces considerable challenges in meeting the basic rights of its children, UNICEF said. The country has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the region (88 per 1,000 and 830 per100,000, respectively) and a fertility rate of 7.4 children per household. Forty percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day.

Most health and education facilities were damaged or destroyed in the post-referendum violence of 1999, but the quality and coverage of the healthcare system has risen consistently. Similarly, the education sector has quickly responded to the need for a new and relevant curriculum, improvements in teaching and a long-term commitment to strengthening primary schooling.