Timor-Leste
In 1999, HAI sent a health and human rights delegation to Timor-Leste following the national referendum for independence from Indonesia.
Timor-Leste is a small, half-island nation of ~1.3 million people that, despite having some of the worst maternal and child health outcomes in Southeast Asia at independence, has made improvements against all odds.
After the independence vote, the Indonesian military led a wide-spread campaign of violence, leaving a wake of death and destruction as they departed. An estimated 75% of the country’s infrastructure was destroyed. The health system required rebuilding and restaffing from scratch. Nevertheless, the new country leaders were committed to free universal health care for all Timorese.
MEET HAMNASA
As of October 2021, HAI fully transferred all global operations and active Timor-Leste programs to HAMNASA, an independent local Timorese NGO with a board, leadership, and staff that reflects the communities they serve.
Follow HAMNASA and stay up to date on their full portfolio by clicking any HAMNASA logo on this website.
From the establishment of the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2002, HAI’s focus in Timor-Leste was to provide technical and planning support to the MOH’s maternal and newborn care and family planning programs; a legacy carried on by HAMNASA.
HAI’s Timor-Leste program worked both at the clinic and community level, helping to strengthen linkages between families and the primary health care services available to them through Timor-Leste’s national health system.
In 2019, the Liga Inan Program—aimed at improving maternal care seeking behaviors and maternal and child health outcomes—reached nationwide scale-up, helping connect pregnant women across the country to government midwives via moble phones.
When families reach the clinics, clinic-based Learning Labs ensure that birthing teams are ready to provide high quality care, by improving and refreshing health worker skills where they work.
Explore HAI’s Portfolio of
recent Timor-Leste-based programs below.
Health Alliance International has been a valued partner working in Timor-Leste for many years. As the first Minister of Health, I was grateful for HAI’s support as we developed our own public health system after independence.
Timor-Leste Porfolio
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PROJECT HISTORY
[1999-2004] East Timor Maternal Health Project (Multiple Donors)
[2004-2009] Improving Maternal and Newborn Health in East Timor (USAID CS)
[2005-2011] Promoting Community Demand for Child Spacing in Timor-Leste (USAID WL)
[2007-2008] Birth-Friendly Health Facility Project (AusAID)
[2010-2015] Support for Improved Maternal and Newborn Care in Timor-Leste in Partnership with the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health (AusAID/DFAT)
[2011-2011] Child Spacing Film Production (UNFPA)
[2011-2016] Mobile Moms: Improving Quality and Access to Maternal Care in Timor-Leste (USAID)
[2015-2017] Support of Integrated Maternal and Newborn Care and Liga Inan Scale-Up in Partnership with the Timor-leste Ministry of Health (DFAT)
[2017-2017] Establishing and mentoring Mother Support Groups to promote Key Home and Family practices for Nutrition, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Primary Health Care in Sucos of Aileu and Viqueque Municipality (UNICEF)
[2017-2021] Support of Integrated Maternal and Newborn Care and Liga Inan Scale-Up in Partnership with the Timor-leste Ministry of Health (PHD)
[2018-2020] Prontu: Improving health provider skills, competency and confidence to address obstetric emergencies in Timor-Leste (DFAT)
[2019-2019] Liga Inan 1000 Days Nutrition Project (Child Fund/DFAT)
[2020-2021] Harmonia Activity: Communities Stopping Gender-based Violence (USAID)
Publications
| Connecting mothers to care: Effectiveness and scale-up of an mHealth program in Timor-Leste | J Glob Health, 2019 |
| Participation in the Liga Inan Program | Technical Brief, 2016 |
| Utilization of Maternal Health Services | Technical Brief, 2016 |
| Postnatal Care for Mothers and Newborns | Technical Brief, 2016 |
| Does mobile phone ownership predict better utilization of maternal and newborn health services? A cross-sectional study in Timor-Leste | BMC Pregnancy Childbirth, 2016 |
| Domestic Violence, Marital Control, and Family Planning, Maternal, and Birth Outcomes in Timor-Leste | Matern Child Health J, 2015 |
| The Liga Inan Program: Putting health in the hands of mothers | Report, 2015 |
| The Role of International NGOs in Health Systems Strengthening: The Case of Timor-Leste | Int J Health Serv, 2014 |
| Survey of childhood malnutrition at Dili National Hospital, East Timor. | J Paediatr Child Health, 2006 |
| East Timor in transition: health & health care. | Int J Health Serv, 2002 |
News/Media
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Timor-Leste Portfolio
Want to dig a little deeper?
PROJECT HISTORY
[1999-2004] East Timor Maternal Health Project (Multiple Donors)
[2004-2009] Improving Maternal and Newborn Health in East Timor (USAID CS)
[2005-2011] Promoting Community Demand for Child Spacing in Timor-Leste (USAID WL)
[2007-2008] Birth-Friendly Health Facility Project (AusAID)
[2010-2015] Support for Improved Maternal and Newborn Care in Timor-Leste in Partnership with the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health (AusAID/DFAT)
[2011-2011] Child Spacing Film Production (UNFPA)
[2011-2016] Mobile Moms: Improving Quality and Access to Maternal Care in Timor-Leste (USAID)
[2015-2017] Support of Integrated Maternal and Newborn Care and Liga Inan Scale-Up in Partnership with the Timor-leste Ministry of Health (DFAT)
[2017-2017] Establishing and mentoring Mother Support Groups to promote Key Home and Family practices for Nutrition, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Primary Health Care in Sucos of Aileu and Viqueque Municipality (UNICEF)
[2017-2021] Support of Integrated Maternal and Newborn Care and Liga Inan Scale-Up in Partnership with the Timor-leste Ministry of Health (PHD)
[2018-2020] Prontu: Improving health provider skills, competency and confidence to address obstetric emergencies in Timor-Leste (DFAT)
[2019-2019] Liga Inan 1000 Days Nutrition Project (Child Fund/DFAT)
[2020-2021] Harmonia Activity: Communities Stopping Gender-based Violence (USAID)
Publications
News/Media
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Our Mission
Our mission is to promote policies and support programs that strengthen government primary health care and foster social, economic, and health equity for all. Our vision is a just world that promotes health and well-being, including universal access to quality health care.
Our History
Health Alliance International began in 1987 as a US-based international solidarity organization committed to supporting the public sector provision of health care for all. Over 35 years, HAI conducted programs in 17 countries, with flagship programs in Mozambique, Côte d'Ivoire, and Timor-Leste.
Our Evolution
In line with HAI’s commitment to support and strengthen local public health leadership, as of October 2021, HAI fully transitioned global operations and active programs to locally-based, locally-led NGOs. Learn more about this shift toward local autonomy and equity in global health.
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