Also available in: Tetum
Contacts: In Dili, Luis Sequeira (670) 332 4649 lsequeira@worldbank.org
In Sydney,Elisabeth Mealey 61-2-9235 6331 emealey@worldbank.org Dili, February 22, 2005 – As part of its US$1,690,000 market rehabilitation and construction plan under the Second Small Enterprise Project (SEP II), the beautiful Portuguese market in Venilale, sub district Baucau, will be inaugurated at the end of this month. One of 59 markets to be rehabilitated –14 more will be newly built – the market rehabilitation project has a specific gender focus as a significant number of traders are women. “Ending gender disparity is one of the goals of the National Development Plan and the SEP II project seeks to empower women in two ways: by providing training through its Business Development Centers(BDC) and by ensuring women are adequately represented in managing the markets,” says Elisabeth Huybens, Country Manager, World Bank Timor –Leste, which administers the Trust Fund for East Timor under which the project is managed. Members of the Market Management Committee (MMC) are trained by the BDC in the financial and logistical aspects (security, garbage collection, cleaning and hygiene, water supply) of running the markets. Say SEP II Project Manager, Jose Maria Guterres, “We try to address the issue of gender balance by encouraging women to participate in the training, so they have the opportunity for economic development.” In fact, the men benefit too since the presence of women on the committee seems to reassure traders that their money will be properly spent, says one of the consultants to the projects. Of the 50 MMCs constituted so far, a remarkable 49% are women members though only half have attended the management training program at the BDC. The Venilale market, with its unique Portuguese architecture, has a limited capacity for 30 to 50 traders which is inadequate given the large number of traders in the existing outdoor market. The 13 member committee are now in the process of finding a solution that is seen as fair by all. Giving women a voice in the decision-making and development process, so that they can support themselves is a key objective which is also pursued by the World Bank through its Dili Distance Learning Centre (DDLC). The DDLC recently organized a seminar for 30 women entrepreneurs from different organizations including the Government. The course, developed by JICA-Net of Japan explored the issue of state support for women’s entrepreneurship and examples from 10 participating countries around the world. For more information on the World Bank’s work in Timor-Leste visit: www.worldbank.org/tl |
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