Publication: Attitudes Towards the Legal Context of Unsafe Abortion in Timor-Leste
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Published
2009
ISSN
0968-8080
Date
2012-03-30
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Abstract
The new Penal Code in 2009 was an opportunity for Timor-Leste to allow some legal grounds for abortion, which was highly restricted under Indonesian rule. Public debate was contentious before ratification of the new code, which allowed abortion to Save G women's life and health. A month later, 13 amendments to the code were passed, highly restricting abortion again. This paper describes the socio-legal context of unsafe abortion in Timor-Leste, based on research in 2006-08 on national lows and policies Grid interviews with legal professionals, police, doctors and midwives, and community-based focus group discussions. Data on unsafe abortions in Timor-Leste ore rarely recorded. A small number Of Cases of abortion and infanticide ore reported but are rarely prosecuted, due to deficiencies in evidence and procedure. While there are voices supporting low reform, the Roman Catholic church heavily influences public policy and opinion. Professional views on when abortion should be legal varied, but in the community people believed that saving women's lives was paramount and come before the law. The revised Penal Code is insufficient to reduce unsafe abortion and maternal mortality. Change will be slow, but access to safe abortion and modern contraception ore crucial to women's ability to participate fully as citizens in Timor-Leste. (C) 2009 Reproductive Health Matters. All rights reserved.
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Publication Starting from Scratch in Timor-Leste : Establishing a Pharmaceutical and Medical Supplies System in a Post-Conflict Context(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-06)This case study analyses the challenges of establishing a pharmaceutical and medical supplies system in a Timor-Leste post-conflict context. In the aftermath of its separation from Indonesia, the Timor-Leste health infrastructure was in total disarray, with more than a third of health facilities destroyed, and those remaining severely damaged. The crisis in human resources was severe, as more than 80 percent of qualified public-sector staff had returned to Indonesia. The resultant heavy dependence on expatriates was complicated by language incompatibility, and nationals were not well integrated into planning and implementation processes, as an entire public sector infrastructure was being established de nouveau. Despite the fledgling status of the public sector, a sophisticated organizational framework was envisioned for the establishment of the health sector supply system: an autonomous agency that would be a non-profit wholesaler or revolving drug fund and a public sector monopoly. The case study reviews the development of the policy and legal framework for the pharmaceutical sector, and the key phases of the commodity supply system, including: product selection through an essential drugs list; procurement hampered by use of procedures that were not appropriate for purchasing drugs for an entire country; the establishment of a centralized warehousing and distribution system; projected financing of the supply system through development of a business plan for the autonomous agency. In its exploration of the transition from post-conflict situation to health system development, the case study identifies lessons that are broadly applicable to foreign aid and external assistance in other contexts, including the tendency to 'poly-prescribe' overly ambitious and overly sophisticated solutions not pragmatically grounded in the current realities of public sector institutional and human resource constraints and capabilities.Publication Timor-Leste Economic Report, September 2025: Land of Opportunities - How Modern Land Administration Can Unlock Timor-Leste’s Economic Transformation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-09-19)Timor-Leste is at a defining moment - one that brings both urgent challenges and real opportunities to build a more resilient and prosperous future. With oil production halted, the country now relies on withdrawals from its Petroleum Fund, which can be depleted by 2038. This raises a pressing question: how can Timor-Leste build a sustainable future and preserve its fiscal buffers? The stakes are high, but so is the potential, with several pathways already emerging. Membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) promises deeper regional integration, long-delayed infrastructure projects are starting to bear fruit, and the tourism sector is rebounding. To seize this moment, Timor-Leste needs to mobilize its financial assets to grow its private sector, but for this to happen it needs to tackle the lack of land tenure security which is a barrier to investment across the board. Get this right, and Timor-Leste can become a model for sustainable growth in Southeast Asia.Publication Women Farmers in Timor-Leste(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-11)Agriculture is the predominant economic activity in Timor-Leste, with more than 80 percent of households engaged in at least minor farming work, with 70 percent of farmers over the age of 401. Despite its leading role in the livelihoods of Timorese households, the agricultural sector has not fulfilled its potential and cereal yields in Timor-Leste are among the lowest in the East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) region. This is a direct barrier in the country’s efforts to achieve its National Development Strategy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.Publication Timor-Leste : The Business Regulatory Environment(Washington, DC, 2006-06)Timor-Leste started as an independent country facing some very difficult challenges. The country was extremely short of skilled human resources and remains so. It faced the challenge of moving from the inherited Indonesian legal system to a new legal system based on the lusophone tradition. Added to this was the adoption of Portuguese as a new official language. Good work has been done by the Government and the Parliament in addressing the constraints and creating the building blocks of the legal and regulatory framework needed for competitive and equitable private sector development. In setting its development agenda for the business regulatory environment we recommend that the Government take account of the realities in Timor-Leste by adopting several key guiding principles: accept that everything cannot be done at once. ; accept the reality that institutions cannot be built overnight; adopt pragmatic solutions which take this fact into account and minimize the administrative burden; in building institutions, focus on those that are identified as bottlenecks and impediments to private sector investment and growth; enlist the support and resources available in the private sector, not only in diagnosing problems but also in devising and implementing pragmatic solutions; and make maximum use of the support available from the donors and other external sources to support this agenda.Publication Timor-Leste: Pathways to Economic Diversification - Country Economic Memorandum 2023(Washington DC, 2023-05-03)Timor-Leste has made important development gains since independence in 2002 but is now at a critical juncture. The government has successfully rebuilt public infrastructure, reduced poverty, and quickly built from scratch a network of functional public institutions. Despite these achievements, there is an urgent need for private sector-centered development that is not dependent on the oil sector. Receipts from sales of hydrocarbons have been the main source of government revenues, but their contribution to the economy is decreasing, raising the urgency for economic diversification. High public spending has not translated into strong and sustained economic growth. Furthermore, depleting oil reserves signal an urgency to reduce economic dependence on oil. The public sector-driven growth model has run its course and is fiscally unsustainable. The excessive public spending level led to an astronomical fiscal deficit of 45.3 percent of non-oil gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021. This fiscal stance entails significant risks that bring the country toward a damaging fiscal cliff in 2035. Albeit narrowing, there is a window of opportunity for the government to urgently implement the much-needed reforms in the next five years. There are several potential drivers for increased regional integration. These include the operationalization of the Tibar Bay port, the modernization of the Dili airport, the internet submarine cable installation, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) accession progress. Success requires a concerted and persistent government effort to address supply-side constraints, kick-start economic diversification, and boost export. This report provides an in-depth analysis of Timor-Leste’s economic performance in recent decades and proposes policies to enhance growth. It highlights two key interrelated constraints to sustained and inclusive growth: the ‘missing’ private sector and the need to tap into the growth-enhancing benefits of international trade. Given the diminishing returns of public investments, pursuing a sustainable development path will require a shift toward a more dynamic, private sector-driven growth model. Furthermore, with the right combination of a supportive enabling environment and trade policies, Timor-Leste could capitalize on incipient and established comparative advantages for its exports. Accordingly, the reforms to support private sector development and expand exports have the potential to boost Timor-Leste’s international competitiveness and improve economic diversification.
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