 About us |
Timor-Leste update
In 2005 WaterAid began work in the tiny, newfound state of Timor-Leste in partnership with Plan Australia, supported by funds from WaterAid Australia. The country, which has less than one million inhabitants, emerged from a brutal conflict with neighbouring Indonesia in 2002. Now independent, Timor-Leste is made up of the eastern half of the island of Timor, the Oecussi (Ambeno) region of Timor and the islands of Pulau Atauro and Pulau Jaco. Timor-Leste is one of the world's poorest countries, with high infant and maternal mortality rates. Twelve percent of children die before the age of five, many from illness and disease caused by a lack of safe water and sanitation. The United Nations estimates that only twenty percent of the population have access to safe water and only fifteen percent have access to sanitation facilities. WaterAid has recently established an office in the capital Dili so that we can expand our work in the coming years, delivering sustainable, community managed water and sanitation services to rural communities in Aileu District through gravity-fed water systems and pour flush latrines. We also provide health and hygiene education there and in Bacau, Manatuto and Lautem Districts. Fifteen year old Carolina, who lives in Elcolbere Aldea, south of Dili, will be among the first to benefit from WaterAid's work in the country. Like all 31 households in her community Carolina's family have to collect their water from unprotected springs and streams and don't have anywhere safe and clean to go to the toilet. "If a new water system is built, we will be very happy as it will save a lot of time collecting water," she says. "Then there will be more time to clean the house and look after my little brothers and sisters. I would also have more time to read." However, the need for these services is great and development is made more difficult by a climate characterised by extreme weather conditions and a varied terrain of rugged mountains and coastal plains with river deltas and swamps. Farming is difficult and seasonal food and water shortages are common. Following its 25 year struggle for independence, the Government of Timor-Leste is currently engaged in rebuilding much of the island's infrastructure, including irrigation and water supply systems, partly through the Community Water Supply and Sanitation Project, which encourages communities to manage their own services to help tackle malaria and ensure sustainable water supplies. Now, with a newly signed memorandum of understanding with the Timor-Leste Government WaterAid is identifying needs, potential future partners and projects to help communities here take their first steps out of poverty. By Sarah Pyke, WaterAid's Communications Services Officer
|
||||
|
|
|
