Publication: Seizing Opportunities of a Lifetime: The Timor-Leste Human Capital Review
Loading...
Date
2023-11-17
ISSN
Published
2023-11-17
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Timor-Leste is facing a human capital crisis. Children born in Timor-Leste today will be less than half as productive as adults as they could be if they enjoyed complete education and full health. Moreover, the Petroleum Fund, the main driver of the economy since the country’s independence in 2002, risks being depleted within a decade, threatening the sustainability of Timor-Leste’s economy, as well as health, education, and social protection systems. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified and accelerated these challenges and deepened socioeconomic and geographic inequalities across the country. To be ready for a future that will be primarily driven by the country’s human capital assets, the time available to Timor-Leste is limited and the task at hand an enormous one. Despite this daunting outlook, there are opportunities of a lifetime that need to be seized now to address this crisis. The country’s population is primarily young, and a rapidly closing window of opportunity exists to build high levels of human capital through quality education, health, nutrition, and social protection. By capitalizing on the youth bulge and translating it into a demographic dividend, the people of Timor-Leste can become the drivers of the country’s economic growth. Eight key messages can be distilled from the 2023 Timor-Leste Human Capital Review (HCR). These messages serve as a common reference point for the Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) and other stakeholders active in human development to identify short- and medium-term priorities for investment in health, education, and social protection. Together, these can yield individual-level and macro-level economic benefits and improve development outcomes.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Bosch, Lander; Andrews, Kathryn; Teixeira, Janssen; Meidina, Ilsa; Nagpal, Somil. 2023. Seizing Opportunities of a Lifetime: The Timor-Leste Human Capital Review. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/40623 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Kingdom of Bhutan Human Development Public Expenditure Review(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-03)Bhutan is situated between the Tibetan Plateau in the North and Indian plains in the south. The development philosophy in Bhutan is embedded in the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) that, as a public policy strategy, seeks to address a more meaningful purpose of development that goes beyond the fulfillment of material satisfaction. The concept is grounded in the four pillars of development; socio-economic, environment, culture, and good governance. Bhutan s record on growth and development has made it a top performer in the South Asian region. The average annual growth rate of GDP over 1980-2010 in country was more than 7.6 percent, one of the highest in the South Asian sub-continent (SAS). Bhutan, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of about US$2,000, is now classified as a lower-middle income country. However, one of the most notable features about Bhutan s macro economy is its lack of diversification, dependence on and exposure to external developments, and the high levels of year-to-year volatility in its economic growth. Public Expenditure Review (PER) begins with an overview of the macro-economic context (chapter two) and public sector management (chapter three) in Bhutan. This is followed by an analytical summary of achievements to date in the health and education sectors (chapters four and five). The PER concludes (chapter six) with policy options and recommendations which are intended to spur discussion and analysis among policy-makers in Bhutan as they look into different possibilities to increase fiscal space in domestic resources while enhancing the quality of expenditures and improving outcomes in the health and education systems.Publication Expanding Health Coverage for Vulnerable Groups in India(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-01)India's health sector continues to be challenged by overall low levels of public financing, entrenched accountability issues in the public delivery system, and the persistent dominance of out-of-pocket spending. In this context, this case study describes three recent initiatives introduced by the central and state governments in India, aimed at addressing some of these challenges and improving the availability of and access to health services, particularly for the poor and vulnerable groups in the country. This includes two federal schemes introduced by the Government of India-the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) of the Ministry of Labor and Employment-and the Rajiv Aarogyasri scheme launched by the state government of Andhra Pradesh. The three schemes discussed in this case study were designed and implemented by different agencies almost in parallel, over the same time period, and used different financing and delivery approaches. A discussion of the mechanics and operational features of these programs has been undertaken to unravel the underlying complexities, interactions, and interdependencies of these programs within the country's health system. The remainder of this case study on India's march toward universal health coverage focuses on three recent, prominent programs, and includes a discussion on the institutional structure of these programs and their interactions within the country's health system, their mechanisms for beneficiary targeting and enrolment, the benefits packages covered by them, accompanying innovations in public financial management, and their information environment. Annex one presents an overview of the health system and health financing in India, and annex two discusses the evolutionary context of India's Government sponsored health insurance schemes. The discussion of the mechanics and operational features of these programs has been undertaken to unravel the underlying complexities, interactions, and interdependencies within these programs. The case study also aims to contribute to the ongoing debate within the Indian health sector, with opinions divided between investments in traditional input-based health spending for publicly managed health facilities versus demand-side financing, purchasing of care, and involving private providers and intermediaries in delivering services financed by public money. The case study also aims to share how the lessons learned by one program can be applicable more widely within the Indian health system and beyondPublication Building Equality and Opportunity through Social Guarantees : New Approaches to Public Policy and the Realization of Rights(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009)The book showcases an innovative approach to social policy that the author believes can act to transform the capacity of states to implement policies to enhance equality of opportunity among citizens. The approach is built around the framework of social guarantees and emphasizes multiple dimensions in the delivery of services and the realization of rights. The social guarantees approach converts abstract rights into defined standards that can be used as a framework for making public policy accountable to citizens. It emphasizes that effective realization of social rights requires attention not just to dimensions of access, but also to elements of quality, financial protection, and the availability of mechanisms of redress. Social guarantees strengthen citizenship through an emphasis on the policy mechanisms and democratic processes needed to define and support such standards. Rigorous analysis of available public resources and of institutions, programmatic approaches, and legal frameworks is essential to underpin the provision of social guarantees and to ensure that the set standards can be delivered to all.Publication Private Voluntary Health Insurance : Consumer Protection and Prudential Regulation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2012-05-14)Health care expenditures can be financed through a mix of public resources and private spending. Private spending is a much larger share of total health spending in low- and middle-income countries than in higher income countries. Moreover, a significant percentage of private spending in those countries is out-of-pocket direct payments for health care services by individuals. Out of pocket expenditures account for more than 60 percent of the total health care spending in low-income countries and 40 percent of total health care spending in middle-income countries. A growing number of low- and middle-income governments are considering private health insurance as a way of both reducing the risk that individuals will have a catastrophic financial burden and achieving other public health care goals. Among these goals are reducing the financial burden on overstretched public health financing, achieving more equitable access to health care, and improving quality and efficiency in the delivery of health care services. An important component of a successful private health insurance market, however, is its legal framework. As discussed in detail later in this book, countries regulate insurance companies to counter systemic market failures that lead to an inefficient and inequitable market. In particular, insurance laws are designed to prevent insurers from becoming insolvent and from engaging in unfair practices and discriminatory behavior. When private health insurance serves as a significant source of financing in a nation's health care system, usually insurance laws also include a range of consumer protection laws that enhance both access to the services covered by private health insurers and the adequacy of the benefits provided by the insurer. This chapter provides a general overview of private health insurance. It begins with a discussion of the definition of private health insurance and the potential roles of private health insurance as part of a nation's health care financing system. In addition, the chapter reviews the variety of entities that sell private health insurance.Publication Maldives(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-11)Maldives, a middle income country, is on track to meet most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while gender gap requires attention. Maldives has made great progress in improving maternal health and has achieved MDG. The total fertility rate has declined to 2.3 in 2012. Contraceptive use has increased but high unmet need of 28.1 percent is of concern. Skilled birth attendance is high at 95 percent. Access to maternal health services is fairly equitable by residence and wealth quintile, while geographical access to services remains challenging. Also, unwanted pregnancies among young women are on the rise. Maldives has initiated a number of interventions to increase adolescents needs for sexual and reproductive health services, improve quality of RMNCH services, and increase utilization of health services at local level.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2017(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-01-30)Why are carefully designed, sensible policies too often not adopted or implemented? When they are, why do they often fail to generate development outcomes such as security, growth, and equity? And why do some bad policies endure? This book addresses these fundamental questions, which are at the heart of development. Policy making and policy implementation do not occur in a vacuum. Rather, they take place in complex political and social settings, in which individuals and groups with unequal power interact within changing rules as they pursue conflicting interests. The process of these interactions is what this Report calls governance, and the space in which these interactions take place, the policy arena. The capacity of actors to commit and their willingness to cooperate and coordinate to achieve socially desirable goals are what matter for effectiveness. However, who bargains, who is excluded, and what barriers block entry to the policy arena determine the selection and implementation of policies and, consequently, their impact on development outcomes. Exclusion, capture, and clientelism are manifestations of power asymmetries that lead to failures to achieve security, growth, and equity. The distribution of power in society is partly determined by history. Yet, there is room for positive change. This Report reveals that governance can mitigate, even overcome, power asymmetries to bring about more effective policy interventions that achieve sustainable improvements in security, growth, and equity. This happens by shifting the incentives of those with power, reshaping their preferences in favor of good outcomes, and taking into account the interests of previously excluded participants. These changes can come about through bargains among elites and greater citizen engagement, as well as by international actors supporting rules that strengthen coalitions for reform.Publication Africa's Future, Africa's Challenge : Early Childhood Care and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)This book seeks to achieve a balance, describing challenges that are being faced as well as developments that are underway. It seeks a balance in terms of the voices heard, including not just voices of the North commenting on the South, but voices from the South, and in concert with the North. It seeks to provide the voices of specialists and generalists, of those from international and local organizations, from academia and the field. It seeks a diversity of views and values. Such diversity and complexity are the reality of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) today. The major focus of this book is on SSA from the Sahel south. Approximately 130 million children between birth and age 6 live in SSA. Every year 27 million children are born, and every year 4.7 million children under age 5 die. Rates of birth and of child deaths are consistently higher in SSA than in any other part of the world; the under-5 mortality rate of 163 per 1,000 is twice that of the rest of the developing world and 30 times that of industrialized countries (UNICEF 2006). Of the children who are born, 65 percent will experience poverty, 14 million will be orphans affected by HIV/AIDS directly and within their families and one-third will experience exclusion because of their gender or ethnicity.Publication Boom, Bust and Up Again? Evolution, Drivers and Impact of Commodity Prices: Implications for Indonesia(World Bank, Jakarta, 2010-12)Indonesia is one of the largest commodity exporters in the world, and given its mineral potential and expected commodity price trends, it could and should expand its leading position. Commodities accounted for one fourth of Indonesia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and more than one fifth of total government revenue in 2007. The potential for further commodity growth is considerable. Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil in the world (export earnings totaled almost US$9 billion in 2007 and employment 3.8 million full-time jobs) and the sector has good growth prospects. It is also one of the countries with the largest mining potential in view of its second-largest copper reserves and third-largest coal and nickel reserves in the world. This report consists of seven chapters. The first six chapters present an examination and an analysis of the factors driving increased commodity prices, price forecasts, economic impact of commodity price increases, effective price stabilization policies, and insights from Indonesia's past growth experience. The final chapter draws on the findings of the previous chapters and suggests a development strategy for Indonesia in the context of high commodity prices. This section summarizes the contents of the chapters and their main findings.Publication World Development Report 1984(New York: Oxford University Press, 1984)Long-term needs and sustained effort are underlying themes in this year's report. As with most of its predecessors, it is divided into two parts. The first looks at economic performance, past and prospective. The second part is this year devoted to population - the causes and consequences of rapid population growth, its link to development, why it has slowed down in some developing countries. The two parts mirror each other: economic policy and performance in the next decade will matter for population growth in the developing countries for several decades beyond. Population policy and change in the rest of this century will set the terms for the whole of development strategy in the next. In both cases, policy changes will not yield immediate benefits, but delay will reduce the room for maneuver that policy makers will have in years to come.Publication World Development Report 2004(World Bank, 2003)Too often, services fail poor people in access, in quality, and in affordability. But the fact that there are striking examples where basic services such as water, sanitation, health, education, and electricity do work for poor people means that governments and citizens can do a better job of providing them. Learning from success and understanding the sources of failure, this year’s World Development Report, argues that services can be improved by putting poor people at the center of service provision. How? By enabling the poor to monitor and discipline service providers, by amplifying their voice in policymaking, and by strengthening the incentives for providers to serve the poor. Freedom from illness and freedom from illiteracy are two of the most important ways poor people can escape from poverty. To achieve these goals, economic growth and financial resources are of course necessary, but they are not enough. The World Development Report provides a practical framework for making the services that contribute to human development work for poor people. With this framework, citizens, governments, and donors can take action and accelerate progress toward the common objective of poverty reduction, as specified in the Millennium Development Goals.