Belmopan, Belize, 2nd February 2022.
The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are collaborating with the European Union (EU) to build climate change resilience. The initiative targets four settlements in western Belize, which are vulnerable to climate change, to support social integration of displaced people into mainstream society.
To this end, the project partners identified the need and successfully secured EURO $2,000,000.00 (BZ $4,600,000.000) grant funding through the EU funded and UNOPS operated Lives in Dignity Grant Facility for the project entitled “Building Climate Change Resilience and Social Integration of Displaced People in Settlements of Western Belize.” This project was successfully chosen from more than 70 projects submitted for funding consideration to the Lives in Dignity Grant Facility last year.
The general objective of this project is to support displaced persons in migrant settlements to become productive members of their host communities and participate in furthering their common resilience, socio-economic growth, and sustainable development, thereby preventing further displacement. Specific deliverables of this project include the following:
● Constructing approximately three miles of drains and placement of 10 culverts in the Community of Billy White and approximately one mile of drains and two culverts at Los Tambos community primary school, which is used as a hurricane shelter.
● Equipping four settlements surrounded by pine savannahs and threatened by forest fires with at least one fire bowser outfitted with firefighting equipment.
● Establishing emergency response teams and firefighting brigades in six settlements and building their capacity through training on disaster risk management, search and rescue and fire management to ensure sustainability.
● Upgrading two primary schools, one in Los Tambos and one in Billy White, to be used as hurricane shelter and building of three new hurricane shelters in Santa Familia, Duck Run 1 and Duck Run 3.
● Upgrading the water systems to meet Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Standards (WASH)
for Billy White, Los Tambos and Santa Familia.
● Establishing a polyclinic in Duck Run 1 to service this community and neighboring Billy White, Duck Run 2, Duck Run 3, and Los Tambos.
This project aligns to Plan Belize, Belize’s migration policy, the objectives of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) 2, 15 and 16 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), primarily 3, 5, 6, 10, 11 and 13 on Climate Change. The outcomes directly contribute to the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and its principle on “Leaving No One Behind.” It is with this in mind that the Government of Belize and IOM are resolved for this project to serve as a pilot initiative with the intent of scaling up across other communities in Belize, thereby addressing migration, climate change and community stabilization.
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See project overview.
