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East Timor - Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #1, Fiscal Year (FY) 2008

Countries
Timor-Leste
Sources
USAID
Publication date

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)

Note: The last fact sheet was dated September 30, 2007.

BACKGROUND AND KEY DEVELOPMENTS

- To date in 2008, approximately 100,000 people remain displaced due to civil unrest which began in April 2006 following the dismissal of soldiers protesting alleged discrimination against military personnel from the western part of the country.

- Humanitarian organizations cite continuing insecurity and the lack of sufficient housing options as the major factors contributing to the protracted displacement.

- On March 29, U.N. and humanitarian organizations released a transitional strategy and appeal focusing on humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs), supporting the Government of Timor-Leste (GOTL) national recovery strategy, and addressing gaps in disaster risk management.

NUMBERS AT A GLANCE
SOURCE
Total IDPs
100,000
GOTL - February 26, 2008
IDPs in Dili camps
30,000
GOTL - February 26, 2008


USAID HUMANITARIAN FUNDING PROVIDED TO DATE IN FY 2007 AND 2008

USAID/OFDA Assistance to East Timor:$1,918,306
USAID/FFP(1) Assistance to East Timor: $3,350,000
USAID/Timor-Leste Assistance to East Timor: $705,595
Total USAID Humanitarian Assistance to East Timor: $5,973,901

CURRENT SITUATION

- The GOTL estimates that as of February 2008, approximately 100,000 people remain displaced, including 30,000 IDPs located in camps within and on the outskirts of the capital city, Dili, and 70,000 others living with host families in other districts countrywide.

- On April 23, the GOTL lifted the state of emergency in all districts except in the western district of Ermera, where members of the opposition group responsible for the assassination attempt on President Jose Ramos-Horta in February 2008 remained at large, contributing to ongoing insecurity.  

Food Security

- In Timor-Leste, U.N. agencies have identified ongoing population displacement, limited access to arable land, and continued vulnerability to natural disasters, such as floods and drought, as factors exacerbating high levels of chronic food insecurity.

- According to the September 2007 Emergency Food Security Assessment in Dili, 50 percent of IDPs receiving food rations in the camps as well as 50 percent of the population in surrounding communities not reached by distributions reported food insecurity. As a result of the assessment, the GOTL and humanitarian organizations are developing mechanisms to better target extremely vulnerable populations.

- In March, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) conducted a final distribution of a half-month of food rations in Dili IDP camps. Beginning in April, the GOTL will continue half-ration distributions in the camps, while WFP will provide rations to IDPs leaving camps as an incentive to return home.

- In FY 2008, USAID/FFP has provided approximately 1,040 metric tons (MT) of rice and vegetable oil to WFP.

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

- The construction of many Dili-area IDP camps in church or government compounds has limited available space for sanitation infrastructure. As a result, the camps require ongoing sanitation infrastructure maintenance, hygiene promotion, and waterborne disease control.

Map: USAID Humanitarian Assistance to East Timor (as of 16 May 2008)

Note:

(1) USAID's Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP)