Locations
Community Infrastructure for Resilience Project (CIReP)
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALs
Donor
Host
Implementing Agency
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The UNDP “Community Infrastructure for Resilience Project (CIReP)” safeguards rural communities by strengthening the resilience of community infrastructures and improving access to basic services for health, education, markets, irrigation, water, and sanitation, which are vital assets to enhance people’s lives and livelihoods.
During the project period 2023-2027, the project is committed to the new construction and/or rehabilitation of 46 community infrastructures in the Municipality of Bobonaro, Ermera, Liquica, and the Special Administrative Region Oe-Cusse Ambeno (RAEOA), which include water systems, public toilets, bridges, rainwater harvesting systems, gabion/retaining walls, and a community centre and a maternity health centre. In parallel with 46 constructions, the Cash-for-Work programme will be operated at the project site engaging with 4,000 community members, especially youth, women, people with disabilities, and LGBTIQ+. The Cash-for-Work programme will provide the communities short-term employment opportunities to equip them with basic vocational skills and hands-on experiences that enhance their sustainable lives and livelihoods. By 2027, a total of 16,000 households and 75,000 individuals (47% women) will benefit from the project activities.
Key Planned Objectives & Outputs
The project aims to:
Support communities to build various kinds of community infrastructures that will enable them to have better access to various kinds of services such as health, education, markets, irrigation, water, and sanitation that have a direct impact on people’s lives and livelihoods
Create short-term employment for the communities by engaging them in construction and rehabilitation work as skilled or unskilled laborers.
The project has 2 outputs that will strengthen the resilience of rural communities in Timor-Leste:
Output 1: New community infrastructures are constructed, or old/damaged community infrastructures are rehabilitated based on communities’ needs and priorities.
Output 2: Men and women in the communities are meaningfully engaged in the process and obtain short-term employment through the construction works in the communities.
PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS
- Obtained National Environmental Certifications for 46 construction projects by the National Environmental Licencing Authority (ANLA). All the constructions are classified as type C with no major risk identified.
- Developed guidelines for the process of community infrastructures that outline Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMP), Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE), Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH), and Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM).
- Completed and handed over a total of 23 community infrastructure units (9 water supply/rainwater harvesting systems, 4 small bridges, 4 gabion walls, 4 sanitary facilities, 1 maternity center, 1 community center) benefiting 74,198 people (49% women) across four municipalities; an additional 23 facilities are under construction and are expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
- Created short-term employment opportunities for 4,643 people (52%women) through the Community Employment Scheme (CES), including 46 interns, 32 persons with disabilities, and 2 LGBTQ+ across 46 construction sites.
- Delivered training on Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH) to 5,217 people, including community members, local authorities, and company staff.
- Ongoing Operation and Maintenance (O&M) training and establishment of O&M mechanism to ensure maintenance and sustainability of the community infrastructure, targeting facility management groups (GMF), local communities, and national engineers.
- Ongoing trainings on employment, entrepreneurship, as well as gender-equality, and women empowerment , targeting 2,240 communities across 4 municipalities.
- Set the 2nd batch of constructions in July 2025 – The Invitation to Bid (ITB) for 13 sites and the selection of 1,300 community workers for the Cash-for-Work are in progress.
Gender Equality
The CIREP ensures women's meaningful participation by guaranteeing that 50 % of Cash-for-Work participants are women, and moreover, new constructed/rehabilitated infrastructures will be equipped with facilities that promote women’s accessibility. The initiatives aim to empower women in rural areas by leveraging their socioeconomic activities through skill-building and access to basic services, that will create the pathways for long-term economic and social benefits for women and their communities.
IMPACT
“A few years ago, the river carried away two students. When it rained and the river rose, even adults struggled to cross. We are truly grateful for the new bridge. Parents and teachers no longer worry when children walk to school” - Ms. Hilaria Moniz Paicheco, Teacher at Aiassa Primary School
Meet the beneficiaries of the community infrastructures:
“I feel grateful because, through the UNDP program, we women gained the opportunity to work and improve our livelihood skills. This is a rare opportunity for women in rural areas” - Natalia dos S. Kab, CES Participant from Suku Ai-assa
Meet the beneficiaries of the CES programme:
START DATE
April 2023
END DATE
March 2027
STATUS
Ongoing
PROJECT OFFICE
Timor-Leste
IMPLEMENTING PARTNER
UNDP
GOVERNMENT COUNTERPARTS
Ministry of State Administration (MSA)
DONORS
Government of Japan
TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS
$5,008,196.82
DELIVERY IN PREVIOUS YEARS
2023 $68,875
2024 $741,232
2025 $92,356
RELATED INFORMATION
UNDP Timor-Leste and the Embassy of Japan sign $4.8 million effort to support ‘Building small scale rural infrastructures in Timor-Leste'
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Timor-Leste and UNDP Continue to Work on Community Infrastructure through Generous Funding of Government of Japan
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Training for 94 Local Authorities to Initiate Cash-for-Work Programme in Rural Communities
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