93401
       THE
       WORLD
       BANK                    Timor-Leste
                               Youth Development
                               Project


       Promoting youth empowerment and inclusion in development by                                      Promote participation of youth in
            expanding skills and opportunities for youth groups.                                        local development and social life.

                                                                                                        Maximise the participation of
Background
                                                                                                        female youth by specifically
Youth played a seminal role in the violence that erupted in 2006 which saw hundreds of thousands
                                                                                                        facilitating their participation in
people displaced, property worth thousands of dollars destroyed, hundreds injured, and dozens killed.   community development efforts.
In the absence of a concerted effort to provide opportunities for youth to engage meaningfully with
communities and government in national recovery and development efforts, the risk of youth              Strengthen the capacity of
marginalisation from development and civic life will persist.                                           government institutions,
                                                                                                        especially the State for Youth
                                                                                                        and Sports, in order to allow
                                                                                                        them to better support young
                                                                                                        people.




About the Project
The Youth Development Project will support the Government’s efforts to address the social,              Location: The project initially
economic and political factors that led to the involvement of youth in the crisis of 2006 and in the    takes place in Bobonaro and
                                                                                                        Lautem districts, and then
ongoing social instability present since then.
                                                                                                        gradually scales up to cover the
                                                                                                        rest of the districts.
The opening paragraph of the National Youth Policy emphasises that “young people are key elements
in the sustainable development of the country”, and goes on to state that “the energetic and dynamic
transition of young people to adult life is a valuable resource for the development and empowerment     Approval Date: 1 July 2008
of the country”.
                                                                                                        Closing Date: 31 December 2011
The National Youth Policy sees young people as potential contributors to local and national
development. The first of the six strategies specified in the National Youth Strategy is to mobilise    Total Project Cost: US$2.12
young people to better serve their communities.                                                         million

                                                                                                        Donors: World Bank
There are two components to the project:
                                                                                                        (International Development
                                                                                                        Association)—US$2.12 million
The first component is Operationalising the National Youth Policy, implemented by the Secretariat
of State for Youth and Sports (SSYS). This component focuses on:                                        Implementing Agency: Timor-
 Strengthening SSYS’s ability to develop, implement and coordinate youth -related policies and         Leste Ministry of State and
     programs, including the establishment of a unit to administer the National Youth Fund within       Administration and Territorial
     SSYS; and                                                                                          Management
 Enhancing SSYS’s ability to work with youth groups, organisations and youth centres, and
     support youth initiatives.
                                                                                                              Contact: World Bank
                                                                                                               Task Team Leader
The second component is Youth for Local Development, implemented by the Ministry of State and
Administration and Territorial Management. This includes:                                               Ingo Wiederhofer
 Facilitating the participation of rural youth in community development activities and local           Senior Operations Officer
    development processes.                                                                              iwiederhofer@worldbank.org
 Supporting the Ministry to establish a mechanism to distribute small grants to youth in sucos
    (villages) and aldeias (hamlets).
                                                                                                             www.worldbank.org/tl