26 November 2008

UNIFEM, UNDP & the East Timor Women Parliamentarians' Caucus Promote Gender Responsive Budgeting

UNDP/UNIFEM
Press Release
Dili, 26 November 2008.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UNIFEM, UNDP and The Women Parliamentarians' Caucus of Timor-Leste Promote Major Workshop on Gender Responsive Budgeting

UNIFEM, UNDP and the Grupo das Mulheres Parlamentares de Timor-Leste (Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus of Timor-Leste - GMPTL) are promoting a major workshop with the theme: “Strengthening Democratic Parliamentary System through Gender Responsive Budgeting”. The two-day event aims at increasing the awareness, knowledge and skills of parliament members and support staff regarding the needs and aspirations of women, and how to incorporate them into the national budget.

The event will take place at the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Pantai Kelapa, Dili. The opening ceremony will take place on 26 November at 9:00 hrs.

The government of Timor-Leste has a strong commitment to promoting gender equality. The National Development Plan places gender equality and gender mainstreaming as a core strategy for development. The training on gender responsive budget is a further step in this direction. It will provide MPs and the secretariat with key elements to analyze and implement budgets taking into account a gender perspective.

The opening ceremony will have the presence of H.E. Mr. Vicente da Silva Gutterres, Vice President of the National Parliament, H.E. Ms. Maria Paixão, President of GMPTL (Grupo das Mulheres Parlamentares de Timor-Leste) and Mr. Finn Reske-Nielsen, Deputy SRSG for Governance Support, Development and Humanitarian Coordination, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative. The closing ceremony will be attended by H.E. Mr. Fernando La Sama de Araújo, President, National Parliament, H.E. Ms. Josefa A. Pereira Soares, the Vice-President of GMPTL, and Mr. Finn Reske-Nielsen.

The participants of the training will include GMPTL members, male members of the National Parliament, and Committee support staff of the Secretariat including the national economists under the UNDP Parliament Project.

The workshop is funded by UNIFEM under its Integrated Programme for Women in Politics and Decision Making (IPWPDM) in joint collaboration with the UNDP Parliamentary Support Project in support to the women members of the National Parliament or the Grupo das Mulheres Parlamentares de Timor-Leste (GMPTL) through the Centro de Estudos de Genero (CEG).

For more information, please contact: UNDP: Endah Agustiana, Ph.D. Gender Adviser to the National Parliament E-Mail: endah.agustiana@undp.org Mobile: 741-5625

UNIFEM: Elaine Tan Country Programme Manager E-Mail: elaine.tan@unifem.org Mobile: 740-6684

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