Transparent distribution of US$62m cash in 30 days

In recent years, the Government of Timor-Leste has been investing in a series of new social protection programs aimed at reducing poverty and inequality.

Over the Christmas break of 2022, the Government of Timor-Leste, through the Ministry of Social Solidarity and Inclusion, administered a one-off end of year payment to all households in Timor-Leste.

This payment was intended to support people to manage the rising cost of living and aimed to bridge the gap between those who receive an additional payment at the end of the year, such as public servants, and those who do not, such as those working in the informal sector or who are unemployed.

The US$200 cash payment was delivered to over 312,000 Timor-Leste households across all 452 national sucos in the country in just one month. Payments totalled more than US$62m cash.

Working directly with the government, Catalpa provided technical support and enabled efficient, accountable, and inclusive delivery of funds in a country where the majority of citizens don’t have a bank account.

The payment tracking system involved:

• The creation of a data collection app for payment registrations that was simple-to-use and works offline,
• Set up of 482 tablet mobile devices for offline registration
• The delivery of rapid training to 452 payment teams to ensure the accurate collection of required data and access to remote support when required
• Preparation of dashboards to monitor the progress of payments in real-time, and
• Support for monitoring and evaluation activities through easy-to-analyse data and reporting.

The system created efficiency and transparency around who and when people had received a payment. Real-time monitoring was publicly accessible via an online portal.