UNCDF Executive Secretary reaffirms commitment during visit to Timor-Leste

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UNCDF Executive Secretary reaffirms commitment during visit to Timor-Leste

From 7 to 9 August, Mr. David Morrison, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), visited Timor-Leste for the first time since he joined UNCDF in July 2008.

In Timor-Leste, UNCDF has been supporting two joint programmes in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): the Local Governance Support Programme (LGSP) and the Inclusive Finance for the Under-Served Economy (INFUSE).

The Executive Secretary, accompanied by Mr. David Jackson, Regional Technical Advisor from UNCDF in Bangkok, met with key stakeholders and counterparts from the LGSP including the Minister of State Administration and Territorial Management (MSATM), Dr. Arcângelo Leite, who spoke about the progress of the establishment of the municipalities in Timor-Leste.

Minister Arcângelo Leite took the opportunity to thank UNCDF for its support to the decentralization process. "I would like to express my gratitude for the assistance UNCDF has been providing to the government of Timor-Leste as our closest partner since 2003 and I hope that we can continue to work together, especially in this crucial moment, with the set-up of the municipalities", stated the Minister.

During his visit, Mr. Morrison traveled to Manatuto, one of the eight pilot districts where UNCDF, through the LGSP, supports people’s access to infrastructure and basic services, while building local capacities for public service provision and small-scale infrastructure projects preparing local authorities for decentralization.

Mr. Morrison’s trip to Manatuto included meetings with District Administrator, Sub-District administrators and District officers, as well as a tour to a construction site of an irrigation canal, one of the infrastructure projects, which is being funded by the government of Timor-Leste and implemented with technical support of the Local Development Programme (LDP) as one of LGSP components, and is fully funded by the State of Timor-Leste.

During his visit Mr. Morrison reaffirmed UNCDF’s strong commitment in supporting poverty reduction in Timor-Leste. "The purpose of this visit was to learn about the progress made in local development and in micro finance and figure out ways to improve our support to both of our programmes. I was very pleased with the results we saw and the prospects for the development of Timor-Leste�, stated the Executive Secretary.