Timor-Leste, a small, mountainous country in Southeast Asia occupying the eastern half the island of Timor, is highly vulnerable to natural hazards. Weather-related risks, such as monsoon rains, droughts, flash floods, landslides, and destructive winds are frequent threats. These risks are exacerbated by the potential for seismic risks, volcanoes, and tsunamis.
Timor-Leste’s government, recognizing the need for disaster preparedness, established the National Disaster Management Directorate (NDMD) to manage these risks. In 2014-15, in collaboration with the World Bank, UNDP, and specific branches of the government, NDMD implemented Climate and Disaster Resilience in Communities-activities in the northern part of Timor Leste, along the Dili-Ainaro and Linked Road Corridors Project, with support from the Africa Caribbean Pacific-European Union Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Program (ACP-EU NDRR).
The program aimed at generating and using quantified data to better understand and prepare for natural hazard risks along the corridors, and to support capacity building in Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM).