Visit to Timor-Leste with UNDP

The Crown Prince began a three-day field visit to Timor-Leste on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today. UNDP has planned a busy programme for Crown Prince Haakon, who has served as Goodwill Ambassador for UNDP since 2003. The main focus of the Crown Prince’s annual UNDP trips is to meet professionals in the field and, not least, people whose lives have improved as a result of projects funded by the development programme.

Important meeting with the president

Following a brief welcome at the airport in the capital city of Dili, a meeting was held with H.E. President Taur Matan Ruak, Crown Prince Haakon, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Timor-Leste Knut Østby, and Ambassador Stig I. Traavik. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss UNDP’s activities in the country and to further strengthen the excellent ties between UNDP and Timor-Leste.

Four million plastic bottles have given a better future

Today the Crown Prince also had the opportunity to meet with local young people who now have better lives and a brighter future thanks to UNDP, four million plastic bottles and a project entitled “Green Hope Recycling Project”. The business launched under the project is one of several examples of how UNDP supports social entrepreneurship in the country. The project also has major environmental benefits. Instead of being left strewn in nature or along the roadside, plastic bottles are now being used to generate income for many people.

There is no bottle deposit scheme in Timor-Leste. The idea behind the project is to collect used plastic bottles, cut them into smaller pieces and sell them as plastic for recycling purposes. In this manner, the young people participating in the project can work and earn their own money, which in most cases is spent on food and further education. The project also generates income for local people who help to collect the bottles.

Crown Prince Haakon visited the business’s head office, which also provides courses in English language, leadership and other topics. When encouraged to try his hand at production, the Crown Prince took a pair of scissors and helped to cut the bottles into strips. The project is also working to install a machine that will simplify the process and boost capacity. The young people involved in the project told the Crown Prince that the project has had a positive impact on attitudes with regard to the environment.

More projects

Later in the week, Crown Prince Haakon will visit several other projects operated by UNDP in Timor-Leste, including a project that brings clean water to several hundred households, the Justice System Programme to bring mobile courts out to the districts, and a salt production facility run by women farmers that provides food and income for many families.