Timor-Leste Country Strategy 2020-2023
While one billion people have moved out of extreme poverty in the last 20 years, roughly 10% of the world’s population still live without safe water to drink and one in three people live without a decent toilet.
Source: WaterAid Timor Leste
As a result, 315,000 children die every year. This unacceptable situation causes immense suffering, and holds back human development. It particularly affects the lives of women, who carry the burden of collecting water and caring for sick children, and the lives of girls who often fail to finish their education because of a lack of toilets in schools.
Timor-Leste has faced its own challenges in this area. As a young nation with relatively new government institutions, Timor-Leste has faced significant difficulties in providing and sustaining water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for its population. The recent history of conflict and civil unrest has also slowed progress. The country fell just short of achieving the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the percentage of the population without access to improved drinking water. Progress on sanitation has been slower – over the same period access to improved sanitation has barely increased. While coverage gains in urban areas have been robust, rural areas are lagging behind.
