International donors meet in ETimor

---

DILI, April 2 (AFP): International donors to East Timor kicked off a three-day meeting today to discuss how to lock in security gains and promote development in the young nation, one of the world's poorest.
The meeting includes foreign governments, non-governmental organisations, the United Nations and the World Bank and will focus on maintaining peace and reducing widespread poverty amid the global economic crisis, officials said.
"2009 will be a difficult year in (the) face of the current international financial crisis, and a drop in the price of oil which has sharply reduced Timor-Leste's prospective petroleum revenue," a government briefing paper said.
"The challenge is to consolidate the reforms in the security and defence sectors, improve the efficiency and sustainability of the social safety net programmes in place, and sustain economic growth and poverty reduction in the long term."