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NATIONAL SOCIETY PROFILE
The Timor-Leste Red Cross Society was established in 2000 and legally recognized as an auxiliary to the public authorities of Timor-Leste in 2005. It was admitted to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in the same year. The National Society works closely with several ministries of the Government of Timor-Leste and national and sub-national departments.
The National Society is currently present in 13 municipalities of Timor-Leste and utilizes regionalization approach to continue strengthening their capacity to operate at branch level.
Over the past seven years, the Integrated Community-Based Risk Reduction (ICBRR) programme has becomeTimor-Leste Red Cross Society’s signature approach to support remote communities in developing their resilience and reaching their development aspirations. This program has enabled the National Society to effectively use its limited human and financial resources to provide a holistic support to remote communities that often fall outside the net of government services, to provide them with the tools, resources and knowledge needed to address the multi-layered risks in the areas of health, livelihoods, environmental protection, food security and nutrition, water and sanitation and disaster management.
The program has facilitated the integration of technical expertise from different sectoral teams within the National Society, including disaster management, health, youth and livelihoods, as well as the support of movement partners. It has also provided a valuable avenue for donors and partners to coordinate their support to the Timor-Leste Red Cross Society. This program provides considerable contributions to strengthening Timor-Leste Red Cross Society’s personnel technical capacity.
During the past three years, Timor-Leste Red Cross Society has also consolidated and proven the value of its role as an auxiliary to the public authorities in responding to disasters in the country. It has consistently proven its leadership and strength in the humanitarian sector, by being one of key responders to COVID-19, dengue and extensive flooding across the country. It is in this context that Timor-Leste Red Cross Society has also made progress on becoming one of the National Societies in Asia Pacific that are ‘cash ready’, in line with the Manila Call for Action 8 on Cash and Voucher Assistance. The commodity voucher recently piloted by Timor-Leste Red Cross Society demonstrates its commitment to develop its capacities further to provide more effective and efficient response services as well as maintaining dignity for affected populations.
The Timor-Leste Red Cross Society’s Strategic Plan (2020–2024) focuses on four main areas:
• Strengthening the resilience of communities and responding to the needs of the most vulnerable people
• Saving lives and supporting recovery from disasters and crises
• Promoting humanitarian values and a culture of peace
• Developing a strong, sustainable and accountable organization
In 2022, the Timor-Leste Red Cross Society reached more than 7,000 people under its disaster response and early recovery programmes and more than 600,000 people through its long-term services and development programmes.