Red Cross Belize to Benefit from Climate Resilience Project Funded by France

Red Cross Belize stands to benefit from a fraction of a 4 million French franc donation under a project titled “Improved Climate Adaptation and Resilience Capabilities in the Caribbean and Pacific.” The funds will be used for resilience and capacity building developments, particularly in the south. Here is Harry Arzu with the story. 

Harry Arzu, Stann Creek Correspondent: “The Belize Red Cross Society is holding a 3-day climate adaptation and resilience capabilities training for its volunteers and stakeholders. The training that got underway at the NEMO Headquarters here in Dangriga has as one of its objectives to share knowledge, tools, approaches, and project management strategies, including the climate action journey. Love News spoke with Orlando Jimenez, a representative of the Belize Red Cross.”

Orlando Jimenez, Representative, Belize Red Cross: “We want to have communities build resilience and we have four countries that will be impacted by this project, Belize and Guyana in the Caribbean, and Vanuatu and Kiribati in the Pacific. In Stann Creek we want to work with five communities, Seine Bight, Placencia, Sittee River, Hopkins, and Silkgrass. We chose those areas because they have a lot of issues when it comes to climate change. For example, in the peninsula we have a lot of erosion occurring and along the Sittee River we have pollution coming possibly from uphill and in a lot of developments in Hopkins and Seine Bight where we have a lot of farming communities. However, we are not going into communities to tell them what you want to do. We are going to conduct research in the communities for them to come up with their issues and then we are going to tailor micro activities or sub activities to address those issues that the communities have. This we want to do for them to become the owners of the project and so that things become sustainable in the future.”

Harry Arzu, Stann Creek Correspondent: “A few of the projects expected outcomes include national societies prepared and confident to support project inception and community implementation, development and rollout of country-level work planned for climate resilience scaling, and enhanced climate and environmental knowledge fostering inclusive locally led climate action.”