DILI, June 2, 2023 –  H.E. Bonifácio Mau Coli dos Reis, Vice Minister of Health in Timor-Leste and Pressia Arifin-Cabo, UNFPA Country Representative in Timor-Leste today launched a new safe space facility at Liquica Community Health Center to offer healthcare services and safety to gender-based violence (GBV) survivors in Liquica municipality.

This is the first safe space constructed with funding from Zonta International through the "Her Health and Dignity, Our Priority" programme implemented in Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea to improve the quality of services available to women experiencing violence, and the coordination between health, security, justice and social service sectors.

“With victim-centered care, healthcare providers can deliver their best assistance and in the same way the survivors can feel safe and secure,” said Odete Anita da Costa, a general health practitioner at Liquica Community Health Center.

Through Zonta funding, UNFPA has been able to strengthen the referral system in the healthcare system and expand psychosocial gender-based violence response in Timor-Leste. 

“It is important to strengthen the health sector’s capacity to respond to gender-based violence, but also ensure that it is well-articulated with the response of other sectors such as justice, police, and social welfare. 

“Doctors, nurses and midwives are, sometimes, the first point of contact for victims of gender-based violence. These health care providers must have the capacity to attend to the victims with care and empathy, but also by following the appropriate protocol for examination and treatment. The launch of this safe space is only the beginning of establishing a system of support for the victims - inclusive for all women, girls, men, boys and members of the LGBTQI community, as well as persons with disability,” said Pressia Arifin-Cabo, UNFPA Country Representative in Timor-Leste.

The safe space in Liquica will be a venue to identify GBV cases, provide critical services and information to victims of GBV; provide medical care and refer them to other essential services like counseling centers, shelters or legal assistance. 

UNFPA continues to support the Government of Timor-Leste to monitor and coordinate the implementation of the National Action Plan on ending Gender Based Violence (NAP GBV 2022-2032). 

UNFPA also works in partnership with other relevant ministries, research institutions and development partners to provide research support to strengthen the availability of data and evidence for advocacy and programmatic efforts that are gender-sensitive and responsive.

About Zonta International and UNFPA:

Zonta International is a leading global organization of professionals empowering women worldwide through service and advocacy. It envisions a world in which women's rights are recognized as human rights and every woman is able to achieve her full potential.

UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.

For more information, contact:

Suleiman Okoth

Communications and Programme Support Specialist

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Timor-Leste

Mobile: +670 75169796

Email; okoth@unfpa.org