COVID-19 is a global pandemic requiring varying degrees of countermeasures to prevent the further spread of the virus. In response to the threat, the National Parliament of Timor-Leste authorized the President of the Republic to declare a State of Emergency (SoE).

Accordingly, the Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) imposed various actions such as domestic and international travel restrictions, closure of schools and physical distancing.

In contexts where many people rely on daily interactions to maintain their only form of subsistence income, such pandemic response measures have the potential to worsen socio-economic vulnerability.

To determine the impacts of the Covid-19 response in Timor Leste the UN launched a joint socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) with the UNDP as technical lead. The results fof the report were presented in September 2020.