This report presents the findings ofnutrition assessment, gap analysis, and donor mappingexercise in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (RDTL).Timor-Leste, though as a young and fragile state, has thepreconditions for successful development. However,persistent high levels of malnutrition threaten to impedeefforts to reduce poverty, capitalize on gains in human andskills development, increase productivity, and stimulateeconomic growth. Though progress has been in other areas ofhuman development, malnutrition – particularly maternal andChild undernutrition – is the single greatest contributor topremature death and disability in the country and presentsan unparalleled development challenge. In 2013, over half(50.2 percent) of all children under-five were stunted intheir physical and cognitive development. Timor-Leste hasthe third highest stunting prevalence in the world, higherthan all other g7+ countries and a significant outlierrelative to its level of economic development. In 2013,nearly one in three (63.2 percent) children (6-59 months)and 2 in 5 women age 14-60 (39.5 percent) were anemic.Although the country is no longer in an emergency situation,the prevalence of wasting (11 percent) – an indicator ofacute malnutrition and a prominent risk factor for childmortality – exceeds the WHO threshold for high public healthsignificance, with emergency levels of wasting experiencedin Covalima and Oecusse districts. Overweight prevalence islow relative to global averages, but has risen more thanfive-fold among adult women over the past decade. ThoughTimor-Leste does not yet suffer from the double burden ofmalnutrition, it will soon emerge if the problem continues unaddressed.
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