MDG Three in Timor-Leste

Goal Three: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

Target: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

Scorecard for Timor-Leste: Very likely to be achieved, on track

At primary education proportion of girls was higher than that of boys. According to 2004 population and housing census in Timor-Leste, the net primary enrolment rate is 75% for boys and 73% for girls. But this rate was decreasing at secondary and tertiary levels. At tertiary level there were only 83 girls out of 100 boys. This reflects that gender inequality still exists.

Moreover, since 2001 the ratio of literate women to men has been quite promising, reaching approximately 96%. The percentage increased slightly to 97% in 2004, but declined sharply to 93% in 2007. Achieving 100% literacy among women by 2015 is possible if informal education is made available to all in a more ambitious manner.

The share of women in wage employment in the non agricultural sector presents a different picture, however. This indicator shows that the chance of women to involve in labour market is still very low, where male dominates. Based on the data sources women contribution in the non-agricultural sector has only increased slightly from 35% in 2001 to 36% in 2007. Moreover, women in urban areas are more likely to get employed in non-primary sectors than men. Finally, an indicator of the empowerment of women can be seen in the proportion of seats held by women in national parliament, which was 28% in 2007.

The high prevalence of gender-based violence (GVB) and in particular domestic violence (DV) is a major concern in Timor-Leste. During the first six months of 2008, 336 cases of DV and GBV were reported from the thirteen districts to Vulnerable Persons Units (VPUs) of the police. However, a vast majority of cases still remain unreported and efforts are being made to encourage victims of violence to report to the appropriate authorities and institutions. In addition, the Domestic Violence Law has been drafted and is awaiting approval by the National Parliament.

More on MDG Three