Belize, February 27, 2023 — Executive Directors of the World Bank Group last week completed an official visit to Belize where they saw first-hand the challenges and opportunities faced by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country. During the visit, the 10 Executive Directors met with the Prime Minister, the Honorable John Briceño, and Cabinet Ministers, visited World Bank-supported projects, and met with the private sector and the Economic Development Council.

As a small state, Belize’s challenges are multifaceted and these are exacerbated by overlapping crises – climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, among other shocks. The World Bank’s work in Belize supports the country in recovering robustly from these impacts, addressing resilience to climate change and protecting the most vulnerable. Belize is highly vulnerable to natural disasters and approximately half of the country’s population is poor.

“Belize is making progress, particularly in addressing climate change and protecting the most vulnerable, as outlined in the country’s newly launched medium-term development strategy,” said Ayanda Dlodlo, Group Spokesperson and Executive Director for Angola, Nigeria and South Africa. “Seeing World Bank’s support to the energy, blue economy, health and agriculture sectors – and how that support has positively impacted and benefited tens of thousands of households – is encouraging. We look forward to continuing our support to help Belize meet its development objectives.”

During the official visit, Prime Minister, the Honorable John Briceño, remarked on the necessity of support to countries like Belize. “We are on the right track and have made great strides towards achieving our development objectives, but we need to do much more, particularly as one of the most vulnerable countries on earth,” he said. “For that, we need the continued support of our development and knowledge partner, the World Bank, and we look forward to future engagements with the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. 

“Belize and the World Bank Group are companions, co-travelers on the road to achieve Belize’s great aspirations — for our country, for our people, for our climate,” the Prime Minister added, while advocating for Belize’s need for affordable finance to fight the multidimensional impacts of climate change, particularly given the country’s vulnerabilities.

The World Bank’s Executive Director for Belize, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis and St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Katharine Rechico, noted the difficulties faced by Small States. “Though classified as a middle-income country, the realities of the multidimensional challenges faced by Belize were made clear during this visit. I am pleased that the World Bank Group is rising to the challenge and helps addressing the needs of Belize and other Small States. The institution will continue to do so.”

This visit to Belize was the first ever under the World Bank’s Executive Directors Group Travel, who also visited two other countries in the region.

About World Bank Group’s Board of Directors

The World Bank Group Board members are collectively called the Executive Directors. The Board of Directors includes the President of the World Bank Group and 25 Executive Directors. Member countries of the World Bank Group appoint or elect Executive Directors to the Boards of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Directors to the Board of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Visiting Board Officials

The delegation included Ernesto Acevedo (Executive Director), Naveed Baloch (Executive Director), Miguel Coelho (Alternate Executive Director), Ayanda Dlodlo (Executive Director), Erivaldo Gomes (Executive Director), Michael Krake (Executive Director), Lene Lind (Executive Director), Katharine Rechico (Executive Director), Wempi Saputra (Executive Director), and Robin Tasker (Alternate Executive Director).