Timor-Leste making progress on women’s empowerment
The following is a post written by Vital Voices Asia Program intern, Shonali Banerjee.
The small Pacific island of Timor-Leste has been referred to by many as one of the world’s newest and poorest nations. However, recent progress has been made in women’s health and education.
According to the country’s latest Demographic and Health Survey, the current fertility rate stands at 5.7 births per woman, two children less than in 2003. The infant mortality rate has also dropped significantly in the last 7 years, from 60 to 44 deaths to 1,000 births.
Experts have attributed these leaps in public health to women’s increased access to education, a higher number of women in the work force, and the increased availability of reproductive health services. A recent survey also shows that there is a greater demand for family planning and an increase in the use of skilled birth attendants and maternal services.
One of the most drastic changes in the nation has been a shift in women’s attitudes toward childbearing. According to a survey, 72 percent of women in Timor-Leste want to have less children and space out having children. Only 35 percent of surveyed women felt the same way in 2003.
Former Health Minister Rui de Araujo says that these striking results show that the country was right to focus many of its policies on primary health care, health promotion, community involvement and education.
Read the full story: “Timor-Leste: ’spectacular’ reduction in child mortality rates,” IRIN Asia.
Vital Voices Global Partnership Team on August 10th 2010 in Asia, News & Current Events, UN Millennium Development Goals
