National workshop to advance integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation planning and implementation in Timor-Leste

Workshop(s) objective

The national workshops are convened to bring these two workstreams into a shared forum. It aims to build a common understanding among senior government officials of the country's overall risk picture, its implications for the Strategic Development Plan, and the case for an integrated approach, while enabling directors and technical focal points to engage substantively with the National DRR Strategy's priority areas, informed by the evidence and entry points identified through the DRR/CCA mainstreaming process, and to chart a concrete, shared path toward strategy formulation, including how multi-stakeholder engagement will be carried out going forward. 

This event outlines a structured, two-tier national workshop series designed to advance the formulation of Timor-Leste's National DRR Strategy with technical rigour and institutional cohesion. The first tier engages members of the National Council for Civil Protection to secure cross-sectoral alignment, institutional ownership, and the technical integration of DRR and CCA. Building on this strategic foundation, the second tier broadens the process through a whole-of-society approach, engaging non-government stakeholders, including local NGOs, civil society organisations (CSOs), academia, media, and the private sector, to contribute actionable insights and define collaborative implementation pathways. The second tier will leverage the existing platform of the National Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Network which involves multiple non-government partners supporting the country’s DRR actions. Together, these complementary consultative processes ensure technical soundness before the draft strategy is advanced to the Council of Ministers for the Prime Minister’s formal endorsement, marking the final stage of institutionalising Timor-Leste's National DRR Strategy.

Objectives

First tier: Government Director-General level who are the members of the National Council for Civil Protection

(Approximately 60 people, 2-day event)

1. To build a shared understanding among senior government officials of Timor-Leste's overall disaster and climate risk picture, and secure high-level political alignment on the need for an integrated, whole-of-government approach to DRR and Climate Action, engaging sectoral ministries.
2. To situate the National DRR Strategy within a comprehensive risk management lens at the senior level, so that political leadership understands and backs the rationale for cross-sectoral, climate-integrated planning.
3. To enable senior government officials to work through the National DRR Strategy's priority areas in substantive depth and jointly arrive at a framing of these priority areas together with an institutional arrangement, action plans, indicative timeline, and financing toward strategy formulation (including how multi-stakeholder engagement will be carried out) drawing on the DRR/CCA Mainstreaming Strategy's diagnostic findings and entry points as shared evidence and reference.

Second tier: Non-government session (Approximately 60 people, 1-day event)

1. To enable co-creation of national DRR strategy with the in-country civil society, private sector, academia, media, and development partners, based on the initial government vision and direction set by the government. 
2. To gather non-government perspectives on disaster and climate risk priorities and mainstreaming entry points, particularly where civil society reaches, private-sector exposure, and academic/technical evidence can strengthen the priority areas identified by the government.
3. To identify concrete roles for non-government actors to complement the government’s efforts in the implementation.

Expected outcomes

The expected outcomes for the workshop with the members of the National Council for Civil Protection will be as follow:

1. Enhanced risk awareness, ownership and political consensus among senior government officials by achieving a unified understanding of Timor-Leste’s overall disaster and climate risk profile, securing cross-sectoral alignment and commitment toward an integrated, whole-of-government approach to DRR and Climate Action through the National DRR Strategy.
2. Co-developed institutional and technical frameworks by systematically contributing to the development of the strategy's priority areas in substantive depth, resulting in a cohesive agreement on institutional arrangements, cross-sectoral action plans, and indicative timelines.
3. Defined implementation and financing pathways by establishing clear baselines for strategy formulation, drawing directly on diagnostic findings and entry points from the DRR/CCA Mainstreaming Strategy, alongside agreed mechanisms for multi-stakeholder engagement and resource mobilisation.
    

The expected outcomes for the workshop with the non-government partners will be as follows:

1. Informed multi-stakeholder inclusion by involving in-country civil society, the private sector, media, and academia, and development partners are successfully integrated into the process of the National DRR Strategy, based on a shared, informed understanding of the national risk picture and government-led strategic direction.
2. Perspectives and evidence of non-government partners are gathered to strengthen the strategy's core priority areas.
3. Defined complementary implementation roles through concrete, actionable roles and partnership mechanisms are established for non-government actors, outlining how they will actively complement government efforts during the implementation phase.