This afternoon in Belmopan, UNICEF – the United Nations Children’s Fund signed over $2.6 million to government and a select few non-government agencies. It is part of UNICEF’s annual work plan and the money is to be spent over the next year on promoting child friendly communities as well as the improvement of children’s rights and child sensitive policy development. UNICEF’s Country Representative Rana Flowers signed over the money to Minister of Social Transformation Peter Eden Martinez. She says this year the annual work plan will focus on the south side of Belize City – and southern Belize.

Rana Flowers, UNICEF Country Rep.
“We’re attempting to build the results for the most excluded population and what the evidence tells us is that the two geographic areas of the greatest exclusionary vulnerability are Toledo in the south and the southside of Belize City. So not saying across Belize City there aren’t a number of problems but if we can bring some of those services back to the ground in the southside of Belize, if we can work with the communities there, listen to what they are saying, really get them as actors in the development scenario and really within that look at the schools, make them child friendly, really drive quality education in those spaces, I think we will start to see the situation turn around. So what UNICEF is saying from our part, the government has set their priority areas, we agree, and we’re going to focus primarily on those two geographic locations.

I think what’s different about this year is we’ve said to ourselves, you this focusing on education over here, or health over there, it has been effective – we’ve got some very good results but are we getting as good or the best results possible and I think we’ve answered no. We need to integrate them more, we need to keep the child at the center and say that child in that family, what do we need to do. It is not about giving individual responses, it is really about bringing those responses together and I know that is something the government is challenging itself to do, it is not easy to do, but it is really about driving coordination and capitalizing on the synergies that exist.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Sedi Elrington was also scheduled to be present at this afternoon’s signing.