UN Newservice

UN Mission in East Timor to carry out poverty assessment 12 January – The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) announced today its plans to carry out a poverty assessment survey in all 500 of the territory's neighbourhoods, known as Sucos.

UNTAET's National Planning and Development Agency will survey the 500 Sucos by March and 1,500 to 2,000 households by July, followed by a survey in 25 communities on the nature, causes and consequences of poverty.

In another initiative, the Agency will create a database with an inventory of development assistance in East Timor by district and sector. Once the inventory has been completed, the information will be taken back to the communities for their responses. Communities will be asked about the quality and grasp of development assistance so far, and how it could have been done better.

The programme will be implemented in partnership with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme and is intended to build community ownership and community participation in local development.

In another development, Harri Holkeri, UN General Assembly President, arrived in East Timor today for a two-day visit to gather information about the situation on the ground. In a statement upon his arrival, Mr. Holkeri said, "I am also here to encourage the East Timorese, who have the backing of all Member States of the United Nations."

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