TIMOR-LESTE 2021
2025
United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework
UNSDCF CHAPTER 1
Country progress towards the 2030 Agenda 1.1. Country context Almost 20 years since the Popular Consultation that led to the restoration of independence in Timor-Leste in 2002, and seven years since the closure of the fifth and last United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operation – the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) – in 2012, the country has made significant progress. With a continued show of resilience and resolve, Timor-Leste has demonstrated strong commitment to reconciliation and reconstruction, as well as to human rights and democracy. The democratic system of checks and balances – albeit fragile – has matured, ensuring peaceful democratic processes and allowing considerable improvements in electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture.1 However, dynamics between the country’s historic leaders still shape day-to-day politics. Obstacles persist to more regular dialogue between the Government and the opposition, particularly regarding Timor-Leste’s economic development and related use of natural resources. The big test in the coming years will relate to the outcomes of the significant oil and gas project – Tasi Mane – and whether it succeeds and turns Timor-Leste into a middle-income country by 2030, as envisioned in its Strategic Development Plan (SDP). Another key milestone that will shape the country’s long-term prospects is whether Timor-Leste’s application for full membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is accepted in the next five years.
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