WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 249

Standard Project Report 2016
(IFPRI), Timor-Leste scores 40.7, which makes it the fourth of the 52 most hungry countries in the world.
An assessment conducted in February 2016 by WFP, with the Minister of Interior and other government
departments, found that the El Niño exacerbated food insecurity and negatively impacted livelihoods and access to
water in the country, and that this would likely lead to increases in the rates of malnutrition amongst women and
children. The assessment predicted that 400,000 people would be affected, with 120,000 people placed at severe
risk, mostly in the coastal areas of Covalima, Lautem, Viqueque, Baucau and Administrative Region of Oecusse.
The Government responded by providing rice to markets at a subsidised rate, but this did not meet the nutritional
requirements of the most vulnerable groups.
Undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies among children and women of reproductive age thus remain serious
problems in Timor-Leste, fuelling a poverty trap that is likely to persist through generations if left unaddressed.
Women suffer from high rates of anaemia and many are underweight; 38.9 percent of non-pregnant women are
anaemic, with higher rates in urban areas (46.7 percent); while 24.8 percent of non-pregnant women are
categorised as thin, rising to 27 percent of women in rural areas and 41.8 percent of women below 20 years of age.
It is estimated that in Timor-Leste, USD 41 million is lost annually in economic, productive and educational
opportunities as a result of undernutrition, according to research published in "The Economic Consequences of
Undernutrition in Timor-Leste, 2014", a study which was jointly produced by the Ministry of Health, the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). However, in
December 2016, Parliament passed a resolution prioritising funding for nutrition, following lobbying from the WFP
country office.
Timor-Leste is a patriarchal society in which social norms and cultural values influence gender roles. There are
strong gender divisions around labour, low numbers of women in decision-making roles, and high rates of
gender-based violence. However, at the national level, Timor-Leste has increased women's representation to 38
percent in the national parliament, and the number of female village chiefs has increased from 2 percent to 5
percent in the 2016 elections.
Timor-Leste ranked 133 out of 188 countries on the Human Development Index in 2015, placing the country in the
medium human development category.
Response of the Government and Strategic Coordination
Nutrition is considered a critical area for intervention and