National Parliament Member Osorio Florindo voiced concern that women in rural areas remain at risk of poverty and diseases, despite money being allocated to women’s development projects each year.
MP Florindo said despite a high proportion of female representation in Parliament in Timor-Leste, rural women remained at risk.
“In regard to female representation in politics, Timor-Leste is a model for other members of the United Nations. But for women’s development in rural areas, Timor-Leste is not,” Florindo said.
MP Josefa Alvares Pereira Soares acknowledged many women in rural areas were still living in poverty and no significant gains had been made.
She recommended the government should create a policy to improve the knowledge and lives of not only women in urban areas, but for rural women as well.
Secretary of State for Equality Promotion (SEPI), Idelta Maria Rodrigues,acknowledged that many women remained at risk of poverty and disease but said the fight for rural women’s development would not die.
She said the difficulties rural women face were not SEPI’s fault but were caused by problems in other government sectors.
Each ministry should pay attention to problems within their jurisdiction, she said.
She said it would take time to overcome the problems faced by rural women.
“Women’s development in rural areas is there; it’s not dying,” she said.
“We have village councils; women have local development projects but it’s not enough yet,” she said.
