- Project name: ILO TIM-WORKS road building program
- Implementing institutions: National Directorate of Employment of SEFOPE (Secretariat of State for Vocational Training and Employment)
- Agreement partner: ILO
- Project period: 2008 - 2010
- Total budget: NOK 13.4 million
As Timor-Leste is embarking on a process of sustainable economic and social development, the lack of a national transport network is a key impediment to any efforts to deliver basic and development services. Roads linking communities to social, economic, and administrative centers must be built. This will require high budget investments. But roads are not the only urgent need of the country. Timorese people are living in poverty and their need for income is not negligible. A sensible approach to reduce community isolation and widespread poverty is to make employment central in any infrastructure investments
TIM-Works (Investment Budget Execution Support for Rural Infrastructure Development and employment) is a two and a half year Project, July 2008 to December 2010, which addresses the enormous twin challenges of job creation and infrastructure development in Timor-Leste, by aiming to institutionalize labour-based technology within regular public works programmes. Labour-based technology (LBT) optimizes the use of productive labour and complements the use of labour with essential equipment necessary to meet the specified technical and engineering standards.
The overall objective of the Project is to contribute to employment generation, poverty reduction, economic growth and peace building through the rehabilitation and maintenance of rural roads using LBT. The Project aims to build institutional and capacity to manage the works and to develop a capacity with the private sector to carry out contracts using LBT. The capital component, capacity building and technical assistance receive external funding from Norway, European Commission and Ireland, whilst the Government of Timor-Leste provides funding for the labour cost component of the Project.
The Project is executed by the National Directorate of Employment of SEFOPE (Secretariat of State for Vocational Training and Employment) with technical assistance from the ILO, and close links maintained with the Ministry of Infrastructure. A special Department has been created within SEFOPE to coordinate and manage the works at all levels, with all local staff recruited under government contracts. The Project has trained over 50 government staff in managing labour-based projects, including 18 National Engineers and 8 Maintenance Supervisors. The Project has to date rehabilitated 150 km of rural roads to all weather standard and included 1,336 km of roads in the maintenance programme. The Project has further employed 17,088 beneficiaries as workers on the road projects, generating 604,074 worker days for rural communities, with 30% being women and 59% youth.
For additional information www.ilo.org
Before rehabilitation (heavy rains in 2010)
During rehabilitation