Belize hosts Strategic Alliances International Partners Conference for sustainable growth

One of the member nations of the Caribbean Community, Belize, is hosting the Strategic Alliances International Partners Conference. The conference is intended to bring development partners on the same platform to enhance collaboration for sustainable growth while boosting dialogue.

The two-day event is organised under the theme of ‘Unlocking Climate Finance and Disaster Risk Financing for Sustainable Development.’ The conference was initiated by the Prime Minister of Belize, John Briceño.

The gathering was joined by the development partners along with government officials like the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, H.E. Amalia Mai; and Francis Fonseca, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Culture, Education, Science and Technology.

The Strategic Alliances International Partners Conference was organised within the MFAFT by the International Cooperation Council. The conference was also organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Development.

The officials of Belize disclosed in the gathering that their priorities are focused on Disaster Risk and Climate Financing. The vision of the government is to align with the medium-term development strategy for the protection of the environment.

The platform is dedicated to the engagement of international partners to finance climate initiatives while exploring the innovative strategies that could be taken along the way. It is expected that these efforts could lead the nation to stand firm to face the environmental challenges.

The Strategic Alliances International Partners Conference in Belize features the discussions on crucial topics like leveraging international climate finance, fostering opportunities for collaborative partnerships, building national capacity to access funds, and non-conventional climate financing strategies.

Prime Minister of Belize, John Briceño, expressed his views in the conference and said, “I can not describe in words of how grateful I am and by extension the people for what you have done. But still, we have more challenges. Every day in Cabinet the ministers says, we need to extend electricity here, a clinic here, more roads, houses, and the list can go on.”

He continued, “This is where you can play a role. This partnership has mutual objectives, like the issues of climate change. We are doing our part, but the developed countries have not. It is unfortunate that a hurricane that went through Florida is raising more awareness in the minds of people.”

PM Briceño added, “The developing countries are finally talking about loss and damage. You all are talking about preparing for the fund. Only one hurricane is needed for all we had, and we could lose fifty per cent of GDP, God forbid. I used to hate speaking about adaptability when I was the minister of the environment. Why should we adapt? We have not caused this problem. But the reality is, we have to adopt.”