Rural development projects help improve life in Oecussi

According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), economic development in Oecussi is lagging behind the rest of the country. Located some 70 kilometres inside Indonesian West Timor, the enclave is mountainous, dry, and dangerously deforested, with chronic water shortages. Its people have one of the highest rates of malnutrition in Timor-Leste, a reflection of subsistence farming in an area with frequent natural disasters, and poor soil and farming practices.

To help improve the situation, a number of UN agencies working in Timor-Leste have initiated projects to help supply renewable energy, irrigation and drinking water, and employment opportunities.

Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) Finn Reske-Nielsen, who led a group of senior Government, UN, and European Union officials to view the projects first hand, told UNMIT Radio the aim is
to build a partnership that supports Timorese authorities in bringing tangible development benefits to the people in rural areas. "The European Union is the single biggest contributor to rural development in Timor-Leste," he said. "Together we are trying to ensure that the benefits of independence will flow to everybody, and in particular to the poor people in the rural areas."

The delegation visited a project using solar panels and biogas plants to give isolated, rural households access to renewable energy, a 'self-help' group approach or micro-credit project focusing on commercial vegetable production, irrigation and drinking water, and a 'Food for Work' road rehabilitation project.