A link to a short video filmed by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs with respect to Minister Elrington and the Belize Delgation’s Official Visit to Mexico on the 20th of July, 2015.

https://youtu.be/3jZTy2Wb_eA

To ALL BELIZEANS — Re: THE QUEEN’S YOUNG LEADERS!

The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme is a recently-established initiative for inspirational young leaders across BELIZE and the wider Commonwealth to get involved. Established by the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust in partnership with the Royal Commonwealth Society and Comic Relief, and in honour of HM The Queen’s 60 years of service to the Commonwealth, the programme is LOOKING FOR EXCEPTIONAL 18-29 YEAR-OLDS to support them in their life-changing work.

The 4-year programme aims to discover, celebrate and support young people from every Commonwealth nation. These young people will be chosen for having transformed their own lives and the lives of those around them, despite the challenges they may have faced along the way.

Young people across the Commonwealth can BE nominated (eg. By a Ministry or NGO) or they can actually nominate themselves. Either way can be done at the link: WWW.QUEENSYOUNGLEADERS.COM. The more nominations BELIZE can submit, the better chance our youngsters have at being chosen.

If chosen, they get the CHANCE TO COME TO LONDON for a brief residency session that will enable them to network with their peers and others as well as to promote and support their work in Belize. They will also have the opportunity of receiving the actual award from the Queen herself.

DEADLINE for nominations is OCTOBER 10TH, 2014 so….TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! For more information, persons can visit:www.queensyoungleaders.com.

The Secretariat of the United Nations invites interested and qualified nationals of Belize to apply to sit the Young Professionals Programme (YPP) Examinations scheduled to be held on Thursday December 4th, 2014. The examination is a platform for launching a career at the United Nations.

Eligibility: (Belizeans Living at home or Abroad)
Nationality: must hold Belizean nationality
Age: 32 years or younger (Born on or after 1 January 1982)
Education: First level university degree acceptable for each job family
Language: Fluency in English or French
Experience: No experience required

Applications:

Applications will be accepted at different intervals for different areas of focus:

June 14th to August 13th, 2014 – Information Systems and Technology and Political Affairs

June 21st to August 20th, 2014 – Economic Affairs and Radio Producer

June 28th to 27th August, 2014 – Human Rights, Library Information Management and Photography.

Placement:

Successful Applicants are eligible for consideration at a P-1/P2 Level at a UN Duty Station usually within their geographic region. Placement exercises are conducted 4 times for the year. Successful applicants will receive application number and can check the website continuously for updates on their placement status.

For further information please visit:

https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=NCE&lang=en-US

Video Links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-MEIkzPMmE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyRN-rcSjDk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df6Fs6Gh3aQ

Radio Spot Links

English: http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2014/06/the-young-professionals-programme/#.U6B0efldVvC

Spanish: http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/spanish/2014/06/onu-lanza-concurso-para-jovenes-profesionales/#.U59qeyifiVp

UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
(68th Session)

SECOND COMMITTEE

STATEMENT

By

H.E. Mr. Delano Frank Bart
Permanent Representative of St. Kits and Nevis to the United Nations

ON BEHALF OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY
(CARICOM)

Agenda Item 26:
“Towards Global Partnership for Sustainable Development”

October 30, 2013

Please check against delivery

Mr. Chairman,

1. On behalf of the 14 Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), it is an honor for me to address this Committee on agenda item 26 – entitled “Towards Global Partnership” – and its related sub-items. In this regard, CARICOM aligns itself fully with the statement made by Fiji on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2. CARICOM takes this opportunity to thank the Secretary General for the report prepared and submitted to guide our consideration of this agenda item. We find the recommendations outlined in this report to be succinct. We feel that they merit and will form the basis of further discussion at the highest level of CARICOM.

Mr. Chairman,

Definition of “Global Partnership”

1. The Secretary General’s report defines partnership as “a relationship voluntarily entered into to achieve shared goals.” It further explains that an effective global partnership “needs to embrace a shared vision, embody an acceptable set of obligations and responsibilities, and entail a package of commitment attractive enough for the partners to join.” Global partnerships also need to “embrace an attractive yet politically deliverable deal for realizing a common vision”

2. Therefore CARICOM countries recognize that the issues of global partnership must remain a guiding principle in the elaboration of the post-2015 agenda. The partnerships developed must include a transformative shift is towards a new spirit of solidarity, cooperation, and mutual accountability. Global partnerships must be based on a common understanding of our shared humanity, underpinning mutual respect and mutual benefit in a shrinking world. These partnerships must involve governments and their development partners but also include others: people living in poverty, those with disabilities, women, civil society and indigenous and local communities, traditionally marginalized groups, multilateral institutions, local and national government, the business community and academia.

Means of Evaluating Effective Global Partnerships

3. CARICOM countries seek to evaluate what constitutes effective global partnerships within the scope of the Millennium Development Goal 8 “ Global Partnerships for Development” The targets set for achieving this goal include inter alia the development of an open trading and financial system that deals comprehensively with developing countries debt problems that include a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction both nationally and internationally and that target the special needs of least developed, landlocked and small island developing states. Global partnerships also take into consideration collaboration with the private sector to make available essential drugs, the benefits of new technologies especially in the medical field and especially information and communications technologies.

Need of Good Global Governance Going Forward

Mr. Chairman,

4. The Caribbean Community acknowledges that after a decade of the renewed commitments of the Monterrey Consensus of 2002, which according to the SG’s Report “embraced a broader global partnership for development than was contained in Goal 8 of the MDGs, the world is faced with a serious global governance gap as it relates to achieving global partnership for development.

5. We echo the sentiments outlined in the Executive Summary of the Secretary General’s Report that continued collaboration and cooperation is needed in the areas of the increased Official Development Assistance (ODA), Market Access and Debt sustainability.

6. Bearing this is mind; we continue to urge countries to ask for a review of paradigm of country classification for ODA, higher overall average income does not necessarily indicate less poverty. Across our sub region the Caribbean, there are millions of people living below the poverty level and in vulnerable situations. While the gulf between the rich and the poor widens, the Gross National Income (GNI), which crudely divides a country’s total income by its total population to arrive at an estimate of average individual incomes, often obscures the fact that the majority of a country’s citizens may live in poverty, and fails to take into consideration each countries vulnerability and debt. As we seek to forge a way forward in the discussing the broad range of issues that have been proposed as priorities in the post 2015 development agenda and the need a commitment to the move towards a meaningful global partnership, we urge our development partners to take this critical issue into consideration.

7. CARICOM supports the recommendation that donor governments need to reverse the tw year contraction of ODA and make greater efforts to accomplish the MDGs and urges that Governments from both developed and developing countries to “increase transparency, predictably and use of ODA.
8. CARICOM calls for the conclusion of a development oriented Doha Round of trade negotiations. We hope that the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to be held in Bali, Indonesia in December 2013; will be an opportunity to break and over 10 year impasse. We also acknowledge with regret that total donor commitments to the Aid for Trade initiative has declined in the last two years and call on donor countries to honor their commitments in this area.

9. Of critical importance to CARICOM is the issue of debt sustainability. We recognize that there are two critical issues facing our member states these include the challenge of reducing sovereign debt when our debt burdens become too excessive and how to restructure our debts in an effective and fair way that assists us in meeting both our domestic and international obligations. “The debt situation of the Caribbean highlights the challenges faced by many small states. Prior to the global financial crisis, several countries stabilized and even reduced their public debt ratios, supported by economic growth. However, strong linkages to the economies of the United States of America and Europe and a high dependence on tourism meant the region as a whole suffered from the severe negative impact from the recent financial crisis.”

10.These factors combined with the erosion of trade preferences and extreme weather events in several countries, led to poor — and even negative—economic growth. Contributing to the challenges faced are the high tariffs imposed on developing countries in the areas of agriculture, textile and clothing which contribute to the agricultural subsidies in developed countries. We call for the implementation of the commitment to eliminate all forms of agricultural export subsidies as well as to increase support for strengthening the productive sectors in developing countries.

11. In 2012, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis sought to restructure portions of their debt. Lessons learned in this process highlighted that there remains some inflexibility of the international financial structures which contain an ineffective mechanism to adequately resolve excessive sovereign debt. CARICOM agrees with the need to “establish an international mechanism for early, cooperative and comprehensive resolution of sovereign debt crises.” The ongoing debates and discussions at the United Nations level have reiterated the need for a rules based framework for debt crisis management.

Global Partnerships

12. CARICOM is also in support of the recognition of the important of partnerships as presented in the proposed theme for the SIDS 2014 International Conference: Genuine and Durable Partnerships for the Sustainable Development of SIDS. We are in agreement that existing partnerships have made significant impact towards the sustainable development of SIDS. In this context the theme highlights the recognition that “genuine partners are those who make time to understand your particular issues and always strand ready to provide support” and “durable partners are those who are “committed to working with you over the long term to find and implement solutions to overcome challenged faced and identified by SIDS”.

13. CARICOM supports the work of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, which engages businesses and civil society as well as provider and recipient government and multilateral institutions.

14. As we approach the end of an era and look toward the post 2015 development process, our governments, policy makers, decision planners and all levels of society will be challenged to focus on shaping the types of partnerships that we want to develop and execute. Governments from both developed and developing countries will need to employ new ways of working, to go beyond an aid agenda. More importantly as developing states CARICOM recognizes that importance of putting our own house in order: this includes the need to implement a swift reduction in corruption, illicit financial flows, money-laundering, tax evasion, and hidden ownership of assets. We must fight climate change, champion free and fair trade, technology innovation, transfer and diffusion, and promote financial stability. We acknowledge that the partnerships we desire are built on principles of common humanity and mutual respect, it must also have a new spirit and be completely transparent. Everyone involved must be fully accountable. The global partnership framework must also ensure fairness and equality across all borders and oceans.

23 April 2013 – H.E. Ms. Lois Young Permanent Representative of Belize addressed the Economic and Social Council special meeting held today at UN Headquarters on “External debt sustainability and development: Lessons learned from debt crises and ongoing work on sovereign debt restructuring and debt resolution mechanisms.”  Based on a brief by Special Envoy Ambassador Mark Espat, she shared Belize’s experience with the country’s recent debt restructuring with a distinguished panel that included Noble Prize Laureate and President of Columbia University, Joseph Stiglitz.

During the debt restructuring process, Ambassador Young pointed out that Belize was offered only one option of MORE AUSTERITY which would have amplified the impacts of the recession and driven more Belizeans into poverty.  She noted in comparison the very lenient approach now being offered to the United Kingdom in which much LESS AUSTERITY is being demanded.  “We felt the force of Mark Twain’s pen, A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain,” she said.

Ambassador Young proposed six points for consideration in the debate namely:

• The need for greater voice and participation for emerging economies in multilateral financial institutions.
• The need to tailor solutions for small states to allow for the use of a broader mix of development financing and debt instruments.
• The need to ensure that the post 2015 development agenda rewards conduct that is conducive to the very survival of the Planet.
• The need for a ‘fiscal recovery room’ for small states, not just an ‘emergency room.
• The need to address the volatility of small states’ economic fundamentals – GDP, tax revenues, exchange rates, and terms of trade – and to consider debt structures that make public finances less susceptible to externalities as well as indexing repayment of principal and interest to small states’ exports, commodity prices, stage of development, terms of trade, rate of economic growth, and even to incidents of natural disasters or the inescapable business cycles, like recessions.
• The need to match the fetters now available for borrowers with fetters for unscrupulous lenders.

In the current state of international affairs, sovereign debt was proving to be a problem for developed and developing countries alike.

Ambassador Néstor Osorio, president of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said “To achieve sustainable development, the international community needs to promote responsible borrowing and lending, along with improved debt management,”

Today’s meeting comes one day after ECOSOC hosted a special high-level forum with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on “Coherence, coordination and cooperation in the context of financing for sustainable development and the post-2015 development agenda.”   At that meeting, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Belize, H.E. Mr. Mark Espat, participated and delivered a statement on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Mr. Chairman,

To the United Nations ECOSOC who invited Belize to participate in today’s Special High Level Meeting, we record our deep gratitude for their confidence in us, but even more so for the confirmation, by our presence here, that our recent debt re-structuring was a compellingly valid and just one.

Belize derives its voice in this forum, and indeed its standing as a member among equals in this venerable Institution, from the sacrosanct democratic principle so cherished at the founding of the UN – that the rights and responsibilities of each nation state shall be apportioned equitably.

Fulfilling the promise of an equitable stake in global economic governance for all nations stands at the core of today’s Special High Level Meeting.

With 360,000 citizens and an economy of US$ 1.6 billion, Belize is a great little nation, epitomizing middle-income, small and vulnerable.  Without any extraordinary support from multilateral institutions, Belize weathered the raging storms of the Great Recession with confidence, grit, focus, and refreshing Belizean optimism.  With a blend of targeted stimulus and pre-emptive debt restructuring, Belize not only avoided economic contraction but last year she registered a remarkable 5.3% GDP growth.

Our recent debt restructuring, concluded on 20 March 2012, affords Belize a unique vantage point from which to assess the multilateral ‘emergency room services’ available to the swelling ranks of countries afflicted by the lethal brew of high debt and low growth.  Mr. Chairman, we come as friends but these MFI facilities are shamefully inadequate for small states.

Let us in haste be unambiguously clear – sovereign states are inherently responsible for credible economic and prudent fiscal policies, which, so evidently, are as pressing as 2100 years ago when the Statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero proclaimed:  “The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled…lest Rome become bankrupt.”

Not craving commercial credit and refusing to submit to the tested and failed IMF cocktail of austerity, higher taxation and unbridled privatization, no MFI support mechanism was made available to Belize.  Even with an approach supported by Belize’s private creditors, a formal IMF Fund Program was the only option offered.  We asked only for a partial guarantee of our restructured debt, collaterized by the future flow of official sector oil income but all we got was a demand to implement policies that would have amplified the impacts of the recession and driven more Belizeans into poverty. This demand for MORE austerity came from the same IMF that, according to recent media reports, is about to demand LESS austerity from the UK.  Usable credit facilities that parade the halls of power of developed countries’ corridors should have been forthcoming to Belize.  But Belize was simply too small to save.

We felt the force of Mark Twain’s pen, “A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain.”

Surely the balance sheets of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and sister institutions such as the IDB can further support the fragile economies of small middle-income states like Belize.

The world – this Institution and its members – simply cannot allow for global economic governance to evolve at the glacial pace which has characterized the evolution of global political governance.

Now then, Belize advocates a few priorities, Mr. Chairman:

1. Emerging economies deserve urgent and greater voice in the operation of the MFIs.  The system where our representatives at the World Bank and IMF owe their primary allegiance to countries whose interests diverge dramatically from ours is patently undemocratic and untenable.

2. If the G7 or G20 are elephants, small countries like Belize, as one economist framed it, are certainly not small elephants. Solutions must be tailored to small states, a case that was put forward, in the instance of the Caribbean, in 1965 by an early President of the CDB, William G. Demas.  The UN General Assembly provides the optimal anti-club model, guarding against the rule of the jungle.  Global economic governance ultimately rests upon constructive engagement and judicious deliberation.  Opportunities for sovereign states as equals to make use of a broader mix of development financing and debt instruments are critically important.

3. The post 2015 development agenda must reward conduct that is conducive to the very survival of the Planet.  With a third of Belize’s land and sea resources dedicated to conservation, with so many World Heritage Sites properly managed, with conservatorship of the Hemisphere’s longest Barrier Reef, Belize’s balance sheet should reflect as assets these timeless treasures of humanity.

4. Small states need a ‘fiscal recovery room’, not just an ‘emergency room.’ Emerging economies would welcome the issuance by MFIs of financial instruments denominated in emerging economies’ currencies, assistance with the development of financial markets for such instruments, access to efficient and affordable liquidity facilities, and more equitable management of key macro and international risks.  It is most obvious that the best way of avoiding the gargantuan costs of financial crises is to prevent them in the first place.  In this regard, it is fair to suggest that the international financial architecture of the Bretton Woods era is medieval.

5. There can be no examination of and resolution for global economic management without addressing the volatility of small states’ economic fundamentals – GDP, tax revenues, exchange rates, and terms of trade.  Debt structures that make public finances less susceptible to externalities should be debated as should indexing repayment of principal and interest to small states’ exports, commodity prices, stage of development, terms of trade, rate of economic growth, and even to incidents of natural disasters or the inescapable business cycles, like recessions.

6. In most instances, unsustainable debt was unsustainable from the outset of lending.  Global economic management must match the fetters now available for borrowers with fetters for unscrupulous lenders.  A seminal lesson of the Great Recession is the unchecked greed of credit markets chasing yield.  Ineligibility should not invite predatory lending and a choke-hold of states’ survivability.

Mr. President, our recent debt operation underlines a tale of two extremes.  On the one side is a system that rewards the profligacy of developed countries with massive amounts of bilateral and multilateral money to repay and protect creditors of developed nations.  At the other extreme, small states, like Belize, are left to restructure their debt unaided, and without a dime of direct assistance from multilateral or bilateral sources.  EXTREMES, Mr. President, NEVER LAST, NEVER SUCCEED.

New global economic management requires oneness, not separateness.  This is the great challenge of our generation.

On behalf of Belize and Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, these are the best times for sharing and launching new global initiatives that benefit economic management and preclude the precipitation of new crises.

Thank You.

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE PERMANENT MISSION OF BELIZE TO THE UN

1. Following close to a decade of intensive efforts to forge consensus on an international legal instrument to regulate the trade in conventional arms, the United Nations finally adopted a historic Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) on Tuesday, 2 April 2013.
2. With the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Syrian Arab Republic blocking consensus on the text during the Arm Trade Treaty Conference held 18 – 28 March 2013, a group of undeterred countries including Belize brought the text to the General Assembly for adoption.  The treaty was adopted with 154 votes in favour.
3. This Treaty “has the potential to provide significant human rights protection and curb armed conflict and violence if all governments demonstrate the political will to implement it properly and develop it in the future” said a release from Amnesty International.
4. The Treaty requires those countries that export arms and ammunition to maintain national records, and prohibits the export of arms and ammunition which would be used in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Convention of 1949, attacks directed at civilians protected as such, or other war crimes.
5. Also, a country exporting arms and ammunition is required to assess, inter alia, before concluding the export, whether there is a risk that the arms and ammunition will be used to facilitate serious acts of gender-based violence or serious acts of violence against women and children.
6. For Belize, there are additional benefits.  In the long term, it is expected that small arms and light weapons and the ammunition, parts and components to utilise these weapons, will become less available for diversion to the illicit markets that facilitate endless violence and untold suffering in our small community.
7. The new Arms Trade Treaty is not perfect, but the Government of Belize considers it a commendable start.

Ministry of Natural Resources and Agriculture
Belmopan, Belize, C.A. ph: (501) 802-2711, (501) 802-2249;
Fax: (501) 802-2333, (501) 802-2083
Email: ceo@mnra.gov.bz, info@mnra.gov.bz

{LAND TAX (PARTIAL REMISSION OF ARREARS) ACT, 2013

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE LANDS AND SURVEYS DEPARTMENT IS CURRENTLY IMPLEMENTING A PARTIAL REMISSION OF LAND TAX ARREARS PROGRAMMME, ALSO REFERRED TO AS “LAND TAX AMNESTY PROGRAMME” DESIGNED TO AFFORD LAND OWNERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO  SETTLE THEIR OUTSTANDING LAND TAX AND SPECULATION TAX ARREARS OVER A SIX MONTH PERIOD.

THE PROGRAMME PROVIDES FOR THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:

a)    Twenty five percent (25%) remission of tax up to fiscal year 2012/13

b)    Waiver of interest accrued inclusive of any penalties for non-payment up to fiscal year 2012/13

c)    Enter into a written contractual arrangements expressing interest to participate in the “Land Tax Programme”.

d)    Participants shall pay the balance of outstanding taxes, after partial remission, shall be paid in  full before the expiration of the Land Tax Amnesty period

e)    Failure to comply with the contractual agreement nullifies the participant to benefit of the remission granted under this programme and the entire tax due before such remission shall become immediately due and payable and may be recovered in the manner provided in the Land Tax Act.

Further clarification and information relating to the Land Tax Partial Remission of Arrears Programme can be obtained at the Lands and Surveys Department in the City of Belmopan, District Towns and Belize City.

COMMISSIONER OF LANDS AND SURVEYS 

30^th January 2013