The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste is a new country. It gained its independence from Indonesia and ratified its Constitution in 2002. East Timor held its first elections in September 2001 and elected 24 women to the Constituent Assembly. Today women constitute 25% of the Assembly.

Twice as many women die in childbirth in East Timor than anywhere else in the Western Pacific or East Asia. Some 200 midwives serve a population of 924,642 (2004 national census).

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