Dili, November 9^th, 2020 – His Excellency Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak, welcomed, this Monday, in Government Palace in Dili, a farewell visit of Mrs. Valerie Taton, the UNICEF representative in Timor-Leste.

In this audience, the UNICEF representative, Valerie Taton, thank the Head of Government for the good cooperation between Government and UNICEF and took the opportunity to say goodbye, because her mission has been concluded and she will leave Timor-Leste and continue with a new mission in Senegal, Afrika.

Prime Minister thanked Mrs. Valerie Taton’s leadership as UNICEF representative, during three years in Timor-Leste, supporting the Government in the area of education. The Head of Government recognizes that Government has many challenges ahead, but will try hard to always give importance to the education area, as a way of improving the educational quality, and said he is ready to work with the UNICEF’s new leadership in Timor-Leste.

On his turn, Valerie Taton expressed her satisfaction at having had the opportunity to work as a UNICEF representative in Timor-Leste, for three years, which gave her the opportunity to know well the Timorese, as a people with a friendly character. She also appreciates Prime Minister’s initiative to join the Scaling Up Nutrition, in prioritizing the malnutrition problem in our nation. Furthermore, she also appreciates the Government policy on fiber optic internet connection to Australia and the ID unique system. Lastly, she also congratulated the Government for the success in preventing the COVID-19 pandemic, because until now there are no serious cases and no deaths.

In this farewell visit, the Head of Government gave Mrs. Valerie Taton a Kaebauk (Timor-Leste’s souvenir), as a gesture of appreciation. END/PMO-M