The Governments of Belize and the United Kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding on the Ocean Country Partnership Programme at a ceremony held at the British High Commissioner's Residence on 29 March 2023.
The Ocean Country Partnership Programme provides support to partnering countries by establishing a collaborative framework to strengthen marine science expertise, develop science-based policy and management tools, and create educational resources for coastal communities.
The Programme is funded by the Blue Plant Fund through Official Development Assistance (ODA) and has three thematic areas of focus:
- marine biodiversity
- marine pollution
- sustainable seafood.
This agreement is between the Government of the United Kingdom, represented by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Government of Belize represented by the Ministry of Blue Economy and Civil Aviation as the lead agency, the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise and the Ministry of Economic Development respectively.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by:
- Her Excellency, Nicole Davison, British High Commissioner to Belize on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom
- CEO Kennedy Carrillo on behalf of the Ministry of Blue Economy and Civil Aviation
- CEO Dr. Kenrick Williams on behalf of the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management
- CEO Servulo Baeza on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise
- CEO Dr. Osmond Martinez on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Development
Belize is the second country worldwide and first country in the Caribbean to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Government of the United Kingdom for the Ocean Country Partnership Programme.
