Emergency Aid to East Timor for Rehabilitation and Development

July 14, 2000

1. On July 14 (Fri), the Government of Japan decided to extend emergency grant aid totaling $28,710,000 to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to assist the steady progress of the process toward independence and nation-building in East Timor. Last December, the Government of Japan announced its decision to extend around $100 million for East Timor's rehabilitation and development over the next three years, and the decision made today is part of this assistance.
   
   
2. The assistance will be extended to seven projects of UNDP and UNICEF, and the amount of assistance is as follows (the organization implementing each project is in [ ] brackets:)
   

   (1)	Rehabilitation and Improvement of Dili Water Supply System: $11,280,000 [UNDP]
   (2)	Urgent Rehabilitation of Dili-Ainaro Road: $4,700,000 [UNDP]
   (3)	Urgent Rehabilitation and Restoration of Navigation Aids and Fender System at the Port of Dili: $2,650,000 [UNDP]
   (4)	Rehabilitation and Maintenance of the Output Capacity of Komoro Power Station: $3,100,000 [UNDP]
   (5)	Urgent Rehabilitation of Small Power Stations in Rural Areas: $2,390,000 [UNDP]
   (6)	Emergency Irrigation Rehabilitation: $3,360,000 [UNDP]
   (7)	Rehabilitation of School Buildings in East Timor: $1,230,000 [UNICEF]

   
   
3. Although the process toward independence and nation-building is currently underway in East Timor under the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), local people are still living in difficult conditions due to insufficient support from the international community. Furthermore, the unemployment rate in East Timor is extremely high; in the central city Dili, the rate is estimated to be more than 80%. Moreover, 70 to 80% of local primary schools are said to have been destroyed due to the disorders in East Timor in last September.
   The assistance which will be extended by the Government of Japan to rehabilitate and improve roads, water supply system, port facilities, power supply system and irrigation facilities will contribute to improving the living environment of the people in East Timor and building the foundation of a future independent nation, while the provision of many job opportunities will contribute to stabilizing the situation in East Timor. The assistance extended to rehabilitate school buildings will contribute to improving the study environment for the children, on whose shoulders East Timor's future rests.
   
   

Related Information (Timor-Leste Situation)