Belize

This Country Strategy Paper (CSP) presents the framework which will govern EU cooperation with Belize for the period 2008-2013.

The most serious threat to Belize’s ambition of achieving a greater standard of living for its people continues to be the incidence of poverty exacerbated by major resource adjustments in the export agricultural sector. For this reason, the Government of Belize (GOB) has committed itself to a broad-based approach to Rural Development with specific resources to address poverty reduction and to support the efforts of marginalized populations to enter the mainstream of economic activity.

The EC response strategy emanates from a consultative process among representatives from the Government of Belize, civil society, and the private sector. This exchange, captured in two (2) workshops, identified the economic and social challenges facing the country of Belize, analysed the programmes being implemented by other development co-operation partners, and focused on areas of comparative advantage enjoyed by the EC in its assistance programmes in Belize.

The focal area of the EC Support Strategy for Belize will be Poverty Reduction with institutional and capacity building, in support of a two-tiered rural development approach including: a) Local (district, community and group) level interventions to promote market-led rural enterprise development; b) Strategic infrastructure interventions to create an enabling environment for rural development. The focal area for EC intervention is Poverty Reduction through Integrated Rural Development

The indicative programme of Euro11.8millioinn is distributed as follows:

Focal Area Envelope: A 85% or EUR 10 million
Non-Focal Area: 15% or EUR 1.8 million
Grand Total: 100% or EUR 11.8 million