The Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has donated a cheque of one hundred thousand Belize dollars to assist in the recovery efforts following the devastating wildfires that impacted western and southern Belize a few weeks ago. The contribution was made to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Emergency Management Organization and will be used to purchase seeds, seedlings and other supplies to support farmers in restoring their livelihoods and rebuilding affected areas. Making the contribution on behalf of the Taiwanese government was Ambassador Lily Li-Wen Hsu.
Tag: 2024-06-18
Belizean Women Discuss State of Fishing Industry
There are roughly a hundred registered and unregistered women fishers in Belize. A progressively challenging industry, coupled with climate change factors, have compounded their chances of making their livelihood profitable. Now, through the formation of the Women in Fisheries Association, these ladies hope to be able to access more and better opportunities to advance their lives. For the past two days, the newly formed association has been meeting in Hopkins Village to discuss all the prevailing factors. News Five’s Marion Ali filed the following report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Over seventy women from eleven fishing communities across Belize completed the 7th annual Women in Fisheries Forum today. The event which took place in Hopkins Village, saw for the first time the selection of a president of the newly formed Women in Fisheries Association. Ralnah Lamb-Lewis, the Assistant Country Director for Marine at Wildlife Conservation Society told News Five that the fisher women are looking for inclusion in an industry that has become ever more challenging.
Ralnah Lamb-Lewis, Assistant Country Director, Marine at Willdlife Conservation Society
“The women who are involved in the various activities along the fisheries value chain, whether it’s processing value added, marketing. They want their voices to be heard. They want to be a part of the decision-making body that is involved when it comes to management decisions regarding fisheries, as well as decisions that impact their livelihoods. So that is one of the main things that they want to look at. And as an association, they’ll be able to advocate on their behalf, basically, for their membership as well as ensure that they are able to receive investments that benefit them and their households and their communities.”
As the association’s first president, Paula Jacobs-Williams will seek to push for better opportunities that have been non-existent for women to advance in the fisheries sector.
Paula Jacobs-Williams, President, Women in Fisheries Association
“Right now, D.F.C. di give the fishers dehn wa lotta problem, so we want to – we hope we could get together, as women in fisheries, and we could find a way that’s easier that we could get a loan or a grant. You could just go in and not have a lot of signing and need somebody fi back we up, you understand me? And then for the future girls, then we want something like a retirement scheme. I want to see that for wi future girls and fisheries ladies, that we have some kind of retirement scheme, even if we have to open like a cooperative, maybe a credit union somewhat. So at the end of it, we are insured that once I say I’m retiring this year, I could have some kind of benefit at the end of the retirement.”
Olga Colon, Young Fisherwoman
“As we all know, the sun just di get worse and we have to stay more protected and it’s harder fi deh outta sea with the sun just di blast for your skin. And we have skiff, we don’t have the canopy pahn we boat soh we get it real bad. I just have to put in more work out at sea and go further out. Right now fish nuh deh bout that much but I personally di hope fi eventually get me a land by the coast soh I could have easier access to the sea.”
Gisele Borland, National Coordinator, International Institute for Sustainable Development
“One of the things that I.I.S.D. is doing is that we’re trying to have communities tell us what would be the best things for them to adopt because Belize is very unique. What might work for Africa or Fiji might not work for Belize. So it’s best that communities tell us what would be the best solution for their climate change issues, and then we listen to them and we try to see how we can work through those issues.”
“The support would come in what form then?”
Gisele Borland
“We have – the I.I.S.D. has an innovation fund that we will be issuing soon in July and we’re hoping to launch in September, where different women group and underrepresented groups can write into us a proposal, and then we will fund a nature-based solution for adaptation project that they have within their communities.”
Adrian Laroda, President, Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance
“Admittedly, we don’t have a lot of women as managers of the fishery sector in the Bahamas, but they’re more in the processing side, but they can take the message back. And there’s lessons to be learned from this particularly in this age where there is greater focus now on women’s rights and gender and youth. While we are separated geographically, the similarities are there. It’s important for them to have unity, even when there’s disagreement, there’s disbarment, it’s important to be unified.”
Marion Ali for News Five.
Women Fisherfolk Want to Start a Cooperative
One of the major events of the two-day Women in Fisheries Forum in Hopkins was the endorsement of Paula Jacobs-Williams of Punta Negra as President for the next two years. She told News Five that she intends to lobby on behalf of all the women fisherfolk, primarily where they face difficulty in marketing their catch. Interestingly, the number of licensed commercial women fisherfolk across Belize account for only three percent of the total number of fisherfolks in the country. But women who are engaged in fisheries-related activities play a big role within the sector. And these roles that women engage in play a huge part in the communities where they live, according to the Assistant Country Director of Marine at Wildlife Conservation Society, Ralnah Lamb-Lewis.
Ralnah Lamb-Lewis, Assistant Country Director, Marine at Willdlife Conservation Society
“You have a lot of women who are involved in processing. If you go to the cooperative, if you go to the fish markets within the coastal communities, and then you have the women who basically are involved in preparing the trips, managing the finances. So all of that additional activities the value added part. Those involved in seaweed.”
Marion Ali
“You’re looking for better markets?”
Paula Jacobs-Williams, President, Women in Fisheries Association
“Marketing and then packaging and stuff like that. So we could like, join, like what I say, like a coop, so each of us could start a pack and we could sell like what you call import and export because we could make some – like for example, we have – in Punta Negra we have the lake, we have freshwater fish some people go for the fresh water and some want the salt water.”
Marion Ali
“Is it only fish that you do?”
Paula Jacobs-Williams
“We do fish, we do conchs, we do lobster, shrimps all the others, and then we could always package it.”
Sewing the Gaps Between Poverty and Empowerment
In the Maya village of Pueblo Viejo, women and girls are taking steps to empower themselves, despite their financial situations. The Taiwan Technical Mission and the Ministry of Rural Transformation are working together to offer the women of the Tumul U.J. Pueblo Mopan Women’s Group sewing lessons with the goal of helping them reach financial security and one day, pass on the skills to the younger generation. The initiative is part of the Enhancing Women in Belize in the Covid-19 Post Pandemic Era project. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with more information.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
In the village of Pueblo Viejo, a remote community in southern Belize, a group of sixteen women joined forces to help pull each other out of financial insecurity. These are the members of the Tumul UJ Pueblo Mopan Women’s Group who will now be enrolled in the Taiwan Technical Mission program where they will learn a valuable skill that has supported Belizean women and families for decades, sewing.
Oscar Requena, Minister of Rural Transformation
“Today, my friends, is about celebrating this wonderful project that the Tumul group is going to benefit from. And really what this project seeks to do is really to provide training for our women to improve their entrepreneurial skills, to improve their sewing skills to improve their, you know, the collaborative effort of working together and to be able to pass on those traditional and cultural skills that our women have. You know, when we look at the women who are out there and you see that beautiful embroidery that they have. That’s so wonderful. So wonderful. And, you know, our women, they know how to embroider this, how to sew, how to But it’s not sufficient for them only to know. We want them to pass it on to the children. We want them to be able to share it with our other beautiful cultures and beliefs. And we want them to see it as an opportunity for you to be able to make some money.”
The women will learn the basics of sewing and maintaining sewing equipment. At the end of the course, the participants will be able to create their own outfits and possibly sew uniforms for school children. Coordinator of the group, Dalia Sho, explained what we can expect from this training.
Dalia Sho, Coordinator
“So the program will be three months, two weeks for the duration of the classes. They’re going to learn the basic to a full course sewing, which is measurement and so forth, learning the basic when it comes to the machines, the different parts, how to take care of your machines, because that’s very important, because that’s the tool that they’re going to use throughout the course, as well as learning basic measurements, that’s also when it comes to knowledge, building those math skills and so forth. And also, whenever they are finished within the course, they will be able to make their own outfit, for example. They will be able to produce not only for themselves, but also for the children that they have, and also maybe at the end, they will be able to vendor some uniforms for the school children especially. And from here, after they graduate, which is going to be sometime in the ending of September, first week of October they’re gonna give back to the community in the sense that we want to empower not only women as well, but our children.”
H.E. Lily Li-Wen Hsu, Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Belize
“Talking about partnership. The most important one is the local partner. So, to implement the project, we need to collaborate with local partners in this program. I’m particularly pleased to have such a like-minded partner, the tumble who women’s group. I learned that this group was established by 16 dedicated women committed to empower underprivileged women in the community who struggled during covid. And this is the exact reason. Why the Taiwan government initiated this women’s empowerment project. We want to help those women, those underprivileged to support themselves because they were the one who been hit most hard, the hardest hit hard during the pandemic. And we want to help the women to recover and through the women, because women is the agent of change. Through women, you can change the community.”
Oscar Requena
“I want to say to you, find the time to meet, to work together, to share together, to laugh together, to enjoy the successes of your project. And today, this is the beginning. for joining me. We want you to build on this success. And I hope that in the coming years, we are going to see that coming out of Pueblo Viejo, coming out of this training that you are receiving, that you are going to participate, that we are going to see our young people, our young girls, our young boys, you know, benefit from these skills that you are going to learn. And that one day, we can see that the products that you produce are can be out there for sale for the tourists, you know, for the export market, the opportunities are endless.”
Britney Gordon for News Five.
Belizean American Broadway Actress Kara Young Wins a Tony
The 77th annual Tony Awards took place on Sunday at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theatre in New York City.
Belizean American Broadway actress Kara Young won for best Featured Actress in a Play for her compelling portrayal of Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins in the Broadway revival of Ossie Davis’ Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch.
Her achievement has made her the first black woman to receive nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Play three consecutive years.
She also won the 2024 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play for her work in the production.
That same evening, Maleah Joi Moon secured her win for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. Moon captivated audiences with her portrayal of Ali in a new musical inspired by the life of fifteen-time Grammy winner Alicia Keys. Moon is said to have Belizean heritage.
Latvia Welcomes First Non-Resident Ambassador from Belize
Latvia’s State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andris Pelšs, was paid a visit by Belizean Ambassador Therese Rath.
Rath is the first ambassador of Belize to Latvia.
Secretary Pelšs welcomed the Belizean government’s decision to appoint a non-resident ambassador to Latvia for the first time. Both officials expressed their interest in fostering bilateral cooperation and collaborating within international organisations to enhance the effectiveness of the multilateral system, uphold the rules-based international order, and respect the principles of the UN Charter, particularly sovereignty and territorial integrity.
EU Provides Aid to Wildfire Victims in Belize
In response to the current wildfires affecting Belize since May, the EU is providing one hundred and seventy thousand Belize dollars in humanitarian assistance to families most affected by the disaster.
By supporting the Belize Red Cross Society, the EU aims to support two families or about eight hundred individuals, primarily farmers, who have lost their crops due to the fires.
As a result of the wildfires, more than thirteen thousand hectares of agricultural land have been destroyed. This has damaged approximately two hundred homes and caused over eight million US dollars in damages. Twenty-four villages and communities, primarily in the western portion of the Toledo district, were affected. These numbers might increase as the fires and further assessments are still ongoing.
The effects of climate change, a prolonged excessive heat wave, and prevailing dry weather conditions helped spread the fires in the Toledo District and Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve in the Cayo District.
The assistance will support the provision of health, water, and sanitation services, as well as cash assistance by the Belize Red Cross Society.
As of June 13th, fires in the Toledo District continued to flare up and progress due to strong winds within the area.
BREAKING: Keyren Tzib Sentenced to Four Years, Ten Months Behind Bars
Keyren Tzib has been sentenced to four years and ten months in prison after she was found guilty of attempted murder by High Court Judge Candace Nanton in March. Justice Nanton found Tzib guilty of an attempt on the life of a colleague, Kurt Hyde, as they were returning to the Belize Coast Guard Headquarters in Belize City.
The incident took place on April 6th, 2015.
In court today, Justice Nanton initially set the sentence at thirteen years but deducted seven years due to the nine-year delay in bringing the case to trial. Tzib’s attorney, Arthur Saldivar, sought a non-custodial sentence, but the court considered various factors, including her mental health issues and the use of a deadly weapon.
Saldivar says he will be appealing the conviction.
Full story on News Five Live at six o’clock tonight.
Another Tapir Knocked Down and Killed
The Belize Wildlife and Referral Clinic is reporting that a second tapir was knocked down and killed in three days. In a Facebook post, the clinic said that the incident occurred on the Hummingbird Highway on Sunday morning.
On Friday, June 14, News Five reported that a tapir was knocked down near Maya Center Village.
The Belize Wildlife and Referral Clinic said, “Like many species, tapirs are vulnerable to nighttime and early morning collisions with vehicles, and this can have devastating consequences not only for the tapir.”
Belize’s national animal was buried with the help of the team at Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge.
The Belize Wildlife and Referral Clinic is asking drivers to drive with extra caution on the roads, especially at night.
Putin Visits North Korea, Seeking Military Aid for Ukraine War
Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in North Korea to meet with its leader, Kim Jong Un, signaling the deepening alignment between the two countries. This visit marks Putin’s first to North Korea since 2000 and is notable as he has made few overseas trips since invading Ukraine in 2022.
The visit aims to strengthen the partnership between Russia and North Korea, founded on their shared hostility towards the West and driven by Russia’s need for munitions for its war in Ukraine.
Putin’s itinerary includes signing a new strategic partnership agreement with Kim, replacing previous agreements from 1961, 2000, and 2001. The visit is being closely watched globally, especially by the US and South Korea, who have accused North Korea of supplying military aid to Russia. Both countries deny these claims.
Following North Korea, Putin will visit Vietnam, underlining Russia’s ties with another communist-governed nation, which is likely to unsettle the United States. Putin’s trip also comes amid high tensions on the Korean peninsula and ongoing international concern about North Korea’s military ambitions.
This visit reciprocates Kim’s trip to Russia last year and is seen as an opportunity for Putin to bolster support for his war in Ukraine. It also provides a platform for both leaders to demonstrate their defiance against Western pressure and sanctions.