Integrating disaster governance in Timor-Leste: Opportunities and challenges

Timor-Leste achieved its independence from Indonesia in 2002 but continues to suffer from a number of hazards such as flooding and landslides, water and food insecurity, and societal tensions. This article seeks to understand disaster governance in Timor-Leste through a particular investigation into its emergency preparedness and disaster response operations. These are coordinated by the government, international agencies, and local organisations. There were three overarching themes that emerged from the fieldwork. They were: time taken to respond to disasters, low capacity, and issues with coordination. The findings also revealed a number of challenges to disaster governance to support emergency preparedness and disaster response operations. While the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) set up by the UN plays an important role in disaster governance in Timor-Leste there are a number of limitations to engaging the necessary institutional actors.