Decree-Law No. 8/2016 approving the State Secretariat for the Socio-Economic Support and Promotion of Women.

This Decree-Law, consisting of 20 articles divided into five Chapters, approves the State Secretariat for the Socio-Economic Support and Promotion of Women (SEM). SEM is the central organ of the Government, whose mission is to design, coordinate and evaluate the policy, defined and approved by the Council of Ministers for related areas. The organizational structure of the Secretariat of State for the Support and Socio-Economic Promotion of Women must ensure the effective implementation of the obligations that the State of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste assumed when acceding to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), whose ratification took place by the National Parliament, on 16 April 2003.
It establishes composition, competences and duties of the above mentioned Governmental institution entitled to: develop and implement global and sectoral policy to support and promote the socio-economic status of women in the economy and society; develop and implement global and sectoral policy to support and promote women's empowerment, opportunity, inclusion and participation in society; develop and support mechanisms for promotion, cooperation and interconnection between the Government and national and international organizations for the defense, support and promotion of women; create and guarantee the adequate mechanisms for the effective participation and inclusion of women in the economic, political and social development of Timor-Leste; develop national and international partnerships with other entities and contribute to the dynamisation of women's organizations in the economy and society; prepare normative proposals, issue opinions and intervene, in accordance with the law, in the cross-cutting issues in all the relevant areas to support and promote the socio-economic condition of women by establishing necessary mechanisms; develop advocacy and technical support to ministries, State secretariat and other State agencies to support gender mainstreaming and integration in the Annual Action Plans, budgets, laws and government programmes; support, coordinate and monitor the implementation of the policy to combat domestic violence; develop strategies to support and promote gender equality not only as a matter of rights and social justice but also as a precondition for achieving the goals of sustainable growth, employment and solidarity; develop partnerships and provide support to women's organizations involved in promoting gender equality, ensuring mechanisms for consultation with civil society, other government institutions, and national and international organizations; K) Promote the internal implementation of the Conventions, Agreements and Protocols under SEM competence; cooperate with national and international organizations and with foreign stakeholders to participate in the major international guidelines on gender equality and promote their implementation at the national level .