United Nations

The Minister of the Public Service, Governance, and Disaster Risk Management, Hon. Henry Charles Usher, hosted a high-level coordination meeting yesterday with the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mr. Raul Salazar, and Deputy Resident Coordinator, Mr. Michael Lund, at the Ministry’s conference room in the Sir Edney Cain Building.

The Ministry of Blue Economy and Marine Conservation, in partnership with the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, hosted the 3rd Blue Economy Climate Resilience Forum on Friday, June 20, 2025.

The Government of Belize and the United Nations Country Team convened its 5th Joint National Steering Committee Meeting, co-chaired by H.E. Amalia Mai, CEO in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Culture, and Mr. Raul Salazar, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Belize and El Salvador. The Joint Steering Committee provides strategic oversight and guidance for the United Nations Multi-Country Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNMSDCF) 2022-2026, which covers 22 countries in the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean and was adopted by Belize in December 2021.

On Wednesday, 13th November 2024, Prime Minister Hon. John Briceño traveled to Mexico City to chair a meeting of COCESNA (the Central American Air Navigation Services Corporation) as the pro tempore chairman of that organization. The Prime Minister also seized the opportunity to lobby support for the candidacy of CEO Kennedy Carillo to sit on the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Board, a specialized agency of the United Nations.

The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Climate Change (MSDCC) successfully launched Belize’s 2024 Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the Ministry’s Auditorium, a synergistic event organized by the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) in partnership with the United Nations (UN) in Belize.

For the first time in his political career, the Honorable Francis Fonseca addressed the General Debate of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Saturday, September 28th, as Belize’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. In his 21-minute speech, Fonseca discussed several topics, including advocating for climate justice and Belize’s ties with other economies like the United States. However, many in Belize were waiting for Fonseca to address the ongoing issues at the Sarstoon River with the Guatemalan Navy. Instead, he referred to Guatemala’s president Bernardo Arevalo's statement on settling the territorial dispute with Belize at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) without highlighting the daily struggles at the southernmost border with that country.

On June 23rd, Belize will observe the United Nations-sanctioned International Public Service Day. There are a series of activities organized nationwide to celebrate the special day. In San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, the Public Service Day Planning Committee arranged various events, including a church service, health walk, and public service information day. Activities will conclude on Friday, June 21st, with the annual Belize Public Service Awards, held on the island for a second time.

Belize’s Minister of Blue Economy Minister, Honourable Andre Perez, attended the 9th Our Ocean Conference in Athens, Greece, from April 15th through the 17th. At the high-level conference, Belize was highlighted as one of the few countries in the world, and the only one in the Caribbean, to ratify a United Nations (UN) treaty to protect the world’s oceans from overfishing and other human activities. The treaty is officially known as the Ocean Biodiversity Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. This law emphasizes the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversities in areas beyond national jurisdiction agreements.