SPTC administrators and Mayor Daniel Guerrero attend an institutional anti-corruption workshop

San Pedro Town Council (SPTC) administrators and Mayor Daniel Guerrero attended a two-day Institutional Anti-Corruption strategy workshop held from Wednesday, July 2nd to Thursday, July 3rd at the Radisson Fort George and Marina in Belize City. The workshop was organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which is seeking to strengthen the state-run systems for the application of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in Belize. The workshop was also aimed at strengthening the capability of municipal leaders to prevent corruption.
Aldo Garcia, Interim Resident Representative for the UNDP Belize, says this event seeks to build the capacity and advocate for anti-corruption strategies at the municipal levels. “We worked for two days with mayors and authorities from the municipal bodies to find the best way to curb corruption and to have the best practices in terms of transparency, prevention and to have a better achievement for the people.” Municipal leaders are being encouraged to adopt a few ‘best practices.’ “The first one is about the law; to see if the law in Belize is adequate to prevent corruption. The second one is mechanisms for public procurement, contracting, for payment; a mechanism to prevent conflict of interest and mechanisms to prevent bribery and other illegal practices,” he said.
Garcia also explained how the UNCAC will function when implemented in Belize and what Belizeans can expect. “There is an investigation body, and this is only one step of the UNCAC’s aims and objectives. There is a first step that is prevention. There are other steps that are to build capacity, to build transparency mechanisms to prevent the crime from reoccurring, and if the crime reoccurs, then there must be mechanisms to punish them. But UNCAC is not just that part; it is all the process. This is why in this case we are talking about strengthening capacity; giving tools, giving instruments to the municipal leaders to prevent corruption and to have a better and more effective mechanism and better results to the benefit of the people.”
The UNDP thanks everyone who attended the workshop and stated that there would be a follow-up workshop for legislators of the country.