New York City, New York, Wed. Sept. 25, 2021– Hon. John Briceño departed the country last Wednesday, September 22, to make his first address as Belize’s Prime Minister at the 76th United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Hon. Briceño, who was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Eamon Courtenay, as well as Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Amalia Mai, and Cabinet Secretary Ambassador Stuart Leslie, addressed a number of issues in his speech, including COVID-19, the economic development of small and developing states, climate change and disaster management.

The PM began his lengthy address by making reference to the impacts of climate change that are facing the world at large and how those impacts have posed a challenge for Belize:
“For a small island state, a low-lying coastal state like Belize, which three days ago, celebrated forty years of political independence, the world today is hostile and vicarious. No one can deny that the planet is getting hotter. The facts are, that July 2021 was the hottest month ever. Each of the last four decades, have been successively warmer than any decade that preceded it since 1850. Global temperature is now 1.2 degrees warmer. Sea levels are rising. The fact is that global average sea level has risen faster since 1900, than over any preceding century in the last 3,000 years. Since 1900 droughts are unprecedented and have become more frequent and last longer. Severe weather events are more frequent and devastating. The last twenty years have seen the number of major floods more than double, while the incidents of storms grew from 1,457 to 2,034. Mother Nature is rebelling. She is reacting to our destructive tendencies, and our refusal to take urgent corrective action. We can do better,” stated Hon. Briceno.

He then spoke of the impact of the pandemic: “And now, Mr. President, our capacity to survive is being tested by the unrelenting COVID-19 pandemic. Covid-19 brought the Belizean economy to its knees. Unemployment reached 30%, as thousands of Belizeans lost their jobs. GDP declined by 14%. Our debt ballooned to 130% of GDP. Many small businesses were shattered. The poverty rate increased to 60%. The impact of the pandemic has been swift, dramatic, and devastating. The human toll has been deadly. Already 399 Belizeans lost their lives to COVID-19. We have a fatality rate of 2.05%. Thousands have been hospitalized so far. Our health facilities are overwhelmed, as they were unprepared for the surge in admission of critical patients. This is not unique to Belize. To confront the urgency of the pandemic, governments across the globe reallocated funds to meet desperate needs. Loans originally committed for development and climate change were diverted to cover emergency health needs and to mitigate the impact of the unemployed. Massive additional borrowings became the new normal as lockdowns were extended. The common framework and debt service suspension initiative failed to offer forbearance to most middle income, SIDS (Small Island Developing States), including Belize, who are ineligible despite our debt unsustainability. At the same time, most of our countries had no recourse to concessionary financing to fund immediate health response,” he said.

Hon. Briceño would later in his speech refer to the the difficulty that many developing nations like Belize have faced in obtaining the necessary tools to combat the spread of the virus. He linked this phenomenon to a “hoarding” of vaccines by high-income countries:

“Disruption of supply chains made access to the much-needed COVID-19 therapeutics, diagnostics, and PPEs beyond the reach of many developing countries. Vaccine hoarding has reduced access to Covid-19 vaccines for developing countries, undermining COVAX and leading to deep and threatening inequalities. 80% of vaccines administered worldwide have been in high and upper middle-income countries. Only 0.4% of doses have been administered in low-income countries. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the region worst hit by the pandemic, only about a fifth of the population has received vaccines. Despite the immoral inequities, countries that have higher vaccination rates are about to administer booster shots to their people. Those people that are already vaccinated. That’s not only unfair, it’s quite simply ludicrous,” he said.

In the course of his speech Prime Minister Briceño also briefly mentioned one of the GOB’s responses to Belize’s mounting debt crisis. He explained that the “Blue Bond” will tie debt-servicing directly to conservation:

“We are going to exchange millions of dollars in debt for significant commitment to sea conservation. We hope that 30% of our exclusive economic zone will be designated a protected area before 2026 and that is far before the year 2030. Moreover, we will establish a maritime conservation fund to be held in perpetuity. We will proudly stand at the forefront of work in this area owing to our love for nature and our respect for the environment,” he said.

Hon. Briceño then called for a reintroduction of multilateralism on a global scale and made reference to the Belize-Guatemala Territorial dispute:

“Therefore, our common future depends squarely on our solidarity, international cooperation, and a strong and effective multilateral system. We must commit to finding solutions together to the common problems that we confront. Unbridled unilateralism must yield to the settled determination to respond to the major problems of our times with social justice. My country is pursuing along with Guatemala, the final and peaceful resolution of Guatemala’s claim to Belizean territory at the International Court of Justice. In the meantime, the 2005 agreement on confidence-building measures remain in effect and our bilateral relations continue to be based on mutual goodwill. We count on Guatemala to remain a constructive partner and rely on the international community to support us in addressing the daily challenges along the border that are inevitable between neighbors. If the multilateral system is to be our collective lifeline, it must be repurposed,” he said.

Hon. Briceno then made several suggestions on how to address the numerous crises facing the world and called upon fellow member states to join him in addressing problems that undermine the agreed development goals. The PM then stated that a multi-dimensional vulnerability index must be used as a tool for restoring access to affordable financing and reducing the challenges of SIDS in accessing such finances at times of crisis.

In conclusion, the Prime Minister reiterated his call for nations around the world to act immediately and unify efforts to fight the economic and social ills that are becoming increasingly aggressive:

“For far too long, too many global problems have been allowed to fester and become crises. The entire world is now experiencing the consequences of our inaction. Catastrophic droughts, fires, floods, and more frequent and intense hurricanes that continue to affect and set back our small, open and dependent economies. Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is crystal clear that the confluence of crises facing the world can only be addressed through solidarity, international cooperation, and multilateral approaches. Let us not return to this great hall in September 2022 to lament further inaction. Let us not return next year to again decry unilateralism, nationalism, and failed collective action. No, Mr. President, we must move forward together. We can defeat COVID-19. But we can only do so together. We must save the planet from the irreversible effects of climate change. But only if we act collectively and urgently. Together we can reform the worlds’ financial architecture to guarantee debt relief, make available affordable financing and adopt a multi-dimensional vulnerability index. Together we must lift billions out of poverty and provide affordable housing, education, and healthcare. Failure is not an option. We believe in the power of humanity – in the noble spirit of mankind. We have confidence that we can, and we will make the world a better place. The people of Belize, the citizens of the world expect nothing less.”