Dili, Timor-Leste, 24 November 2020

Timor-Leste has among the world’s highest percentages of youth population, with almost 75% per cent of the Timorese population under 35 years old. By making demographic and socio-economic data accessible to decision-makers, the Municipal Portal can assist youth representation in national development processes, and strengthen the implementation of inclusive and effective policies at the local level.

The Municipal Portal is an innovative online platform developed by the Ministry of State Administration, with the support of The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for tracking and monitoring the progress of development markers at municipal and village level.

The Portal is part of the EU-UNDP Project “Strengthening Integral Local Development by Building the Capacities of the Municipal Authorities in Timor-Leste” to support decentralisation and municipal service delivery in Timor-Leste. 

Using multisectoral development indicators – in health, education, socio-economic, demography, infrastructure, gender, and agriculture– the Portal enables data analysis and comparison across Timor-Leste’s twelve municipalities. The platform also provides information on on-going infrastructure projects in each municipality, to facilitate project monitoring and avoid duplication.

The Municipal Portal will provide an opportunity to build youth capacities in data analysis and management, as well as raise their awareness of local development and decentralisation.

By having a clearer vision of the development status of the country, the Portal can also serve them as a channel to voice their opinions to the government and to better participate in decision-making processes.

“The European Union is proud to support Timor-Leste’s decentralisation strategy and the development of the Municipalities through effective, participatory and innovative methods implemented in close coordination with the UNDP. Good governance at municipal level is necessary to achieve sustainable development and equitable outcomes. The general objective of this EU programme is to support the implementation of Timor-Leste’s decentralisation policy, bringing better governance, better public administration, and better services closer to the 

Timorese people. “Closer” is the key word here”, said Andrew Jacobs, European Union Ambassador to Timor-Leste.

“Access to reliable municipal data can be hugely beneficial for government, policy-makers, and the private sector, but also for the young people who represent the future of this nation,” said Ms. Munkhtuya Altangerel, UNDP Resident Representative, adding: “The involvement of youth and CSOs in development processes has always been a key area for UNDP to reach local development. We hope that the Portal could be a useful tool for the Timorese youth and CSOs to generate the change that they want to see in Timor-Leste”.

Link to Municipal Portal: http://www.portalmunicipal.gov.tl/