With more than 90% of government revenue coming from oil and gas, Timor-Leste is one of the world’s most resource-dependent countries. Yet despite these resource riches, over 40% of the population live below the poverty line, 30% of adults can’t read and 70% of people live in rural areas with limited health services. For women, these circumstances are felt even more acutely.
CARE has been working in the Timor-Leste region since 1994. After the country gained independence in 1999, a CARE Timor-Leste office was established with programs focused solely on the new nation. Our current programs focus on families in disadvantaged areas and aim to achieve better education for children and adults, more babies being born safely, improved skills of health workers, and greater resilience of communities in the face of natural disasters and the effects of climate change.
Our work in Timor-Leste focuses on: