UPR Sexual Rights Database

"UN Compilation: Para 44) The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women welcomed the
adoption of Law No. 7/2011 establishing electoral lists of standing and alternate candidates,
which must include at least one woman in each group of three candidates. It was,
however, concerned that women in Timor-Leste continued to face persistent barriers to gain
access to decision-making positions, and that women’s representation in government decision-making positions remained low at 20 per cent and the proportion of female village chiefs was extremely low at 2 per cent.
Para 47) The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women welcomed the adoption of the Labour Code (Law No. 4/2012) guaranteeing equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and prohibiting verbal, non-verbal and physical sexual harassment"

National Report:
Para 44) All children born in the territory of Timor-Leste have the right to be registered and it is obligatory to register them free of charge. The MoJ has collaborated with the MoH to create a booklet for pregnant mothers to be filled out from the time the mother becomes pregnant and during her health consultations until the baby is born. The MoJ has also established registration centres in the national hospital and in the municipalities so that babies born in hospital can be immediately registered.
Para 45) In addition to registering children in hospital, those children who have not been registered in hospital or have been born at home can be taken by their parents to be registered at the MoJ through the Directorate General for registry and Notary Services at the national level as well as in the municipalities. The MoJ also conducts a mobile registration program that attends to communities across the entire territory of Timor-Leste, especially remote areas, and this mobile registration program is aimed at registering children aged 0-5. This mobile registration program has been operating since 2017 until now. Para 46) The children of migrants who are born in the territory of Timor-Leste have the same rights as East Timorese to access registration when the child is born, and the registration process for the children of migrants is the same as for East Timorese who are born, and there is no discrimination.

UN Compilation:
Para 15) [The United Nations country team] noted that despite an effort to increase the rate of issuance of birth certificates through advocacy campaigns and capacity-building of service providers, there had been no dramatic increase in the data.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 27) Joint Submission 3 (JS3) stated that there had been an increase in the rate of birth registration of children under 5 years old, but it was still considered low at 60 percent with only 30 percent of those registered in actual possession of birth certificates. There were much fewer children from rural areas that were registered and holding birth certificates than those from the urban areas. These were largely due to gaps caused by lack of national strategy on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, lack of capacity at municipal level for timely birth registration and of necessary equipment to cover all municipalities, and lack of community and parental awareness on the importance of birth registration. Birth registration was free of charge except for late registration after the age of 5. Transportation costs and distance from municipality offices also contributed to the low turn-out.

National Report:
Para 20) … Timor-Leste already has the following national action plans: national action plan on gender-based violence, …
Para 35) The Government of Timor-Leste has adopted many measures to combat violence against women and children. The Government of Timor-Leste through the Secretary of State for Equality and Inclusion has produced a national action plan for gender-based violence 2017-2020, with four important pillars, namely: the prevention of gender-based violence, providing services to victims, access to justice for victims, and coordination, monitoring and assessment of initiatives that have been developed. In 2020 the Government launched a Spotlight Initiative program with the aim of combatting gender-based violence such as violence against women and girls.
Para 78) The Government has launched a National Action Plan on Gender Based Violence 2017-2021 as a State commitment to resolve problems to reduce and eradicate gender-based violence that affects women, men and children in the community through coordination and the inclusive participation of all entities.

UN Compilation:
Para 9) The Committee against Torture commended Timor-Leste for its initiatives to amend its policies and procedures in order to afford greater protection of human rights and to apply the Convention against Torture, in particular the adoption of the second National Action Plan on Gender-based Violence (2017–2021);

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 64) JAI … also noted that Timor-Leste had responded to recent criticisms of de facto discrimination against women by affirming its ongoing commitment to ending gender discrimination, promulgating laws to require female representation at the local government level, and approving a new National Action Plan on Gender-based Violence aimed at preventing violence and increasing women’s access to support services and the justice system.