ASEAN COMMUNITY PANTRY ORGANIZED BY THE PH LAUNCHES IN DILI

DILI 12 August 2021 —The five resident ASEAN Missions in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, namely the Kingdom of Brunei, the Republic of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Republic of the Philippines, and the Kingdom of Thailand, joined together to launch the first ever ASEAN Community Pantry in Dili, Timor-Leste on 03 August 2021.

The ASEAN Community Pantry was organized by the Philippine Embassy in Dili and invited ASEAN Resident Missions in Timor-Leste to come together in one location to provide help to locals. Around 150 people benefitted from the initiative.

The ASEAN Community Pantry is in line with the 54th ASEAN Month celebration and is aimed at fostering stronger goodwill between the ASEAN and the Timorese people.

Meanwhile, the Community Pantry in Timor-Leste (CPTL), an initiative wholly managed and operated by the Philippine Embassy in Dili personnel and their dependents, together with a small core group of Timorese locals, has now benefitted more than 1,500 Timorese individuals in the capital district of Dili and Timor-Leste's largest district of Viqueque between 20 April to 03 August 2021.

The CPTL was a response of the Philippine Embassy to the damage and hardship caused by the Cyclone Seroja in Dili on 04 April 2021 and the "mandatory confinement" of Dili from March to June 2021 due to the COVID-19 surge.

CPTL's donors are Filipinos based in Timor-Leste and from the Philippines, and its partners include the national police force of Timor-Leste, the Policia Nacional Timor-Leste (PNTL), among others. CPTL was also able to organize up to 100 local Timorese youth volunteers for its pantry operations. END

The ASEAN Community Pantry and Community Pantry in Dili helped a total of 150 and 1,500 beneficiaries, respectively.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/PHinTimorLeste/