UN and G.O.B. Hold Third Joint National Steering Committee Meeting

The Government of Belize and the United Nations held the third Joint National Steering Committee meeting today. Currently, there are nineteen U.N. agencies operating in Belize, aiding in the nation’s efforts towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These meetings give G.O.B. and these U.N. agencies an opportunity to review their achievements and realign their goals for the future. The meeting was held in Belmopan, where the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Belize, Raul Salazar, and the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amalia Mai, were both present.

 

Raul Salazar, UN Resident Coordinator, Belize

“We have continued leveraging the collective strength of the UN to continue pursue opportunities through joint programming. We have recently an example when I had the opportunity to participate in the closing ceremony of the Spotlight Initiative which was led by the UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA that made significant achievements to end violence against women and children in Belize. There are other initiatives under the Resilient Belize joint program funded by the secretary general specifically to support the advancement of the 2030 agenda. This was support by UNICEF, ILO, and WFP to continue developing the social protection floor.”

 

Amalia Mai, C.E.O., Ministry of Foreign Affairs

“Some key accomplishments since our last encounter is the development and execution of the SDG dialogue which supported the prioritization of the commitments expounded on by the prime minister at the SDG Summit in September. The continued work across the UN system, the planning and execution of Social Protection Summit held in October and the execution of a workshop on the development of an integrated national finance framework which we held this year.”