Southern Belize Groups Receive UNDP Environmental Grants

Two community-based organizations in southern Belize have secured grant funding under the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, implemented locally through the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP Belize. The grants were officially awarded during a ceremony held Friday at the Social Security Board conference room in Punta Gorda Town as part of the programme’s Operational Phase Eight funding cycle.  The recipients are Home of Indigenous Arts Belize Limited and Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management, both of which will implement projects focused on indigenous cultural preservation, livelihoods, and sustainable environmental practices in southern Belize communities.  According to organizers, Home of Indigenous Arts Belize Limited received a grant of one hundred and twenty thousand Belize dollars toward a larger project valued at more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The initiative, titled “Crafting Resilience: Preserving Cultural Heritage and Improving Livelihoods,” is expected to benefit approximately forty artisans across several villages through cultural preservation and craft-making activities.  Meanwhile, the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management, commonly known as SATIIM, received one hundred and fifty thousand Belize dollars toward a project valued at more than three hundred and forty-seven thousand dollars. That initiative, titled “Reviving Maya Agroecology through Maya Women and Children,” aims to strengthen ancestral food systems and promote indigenous agroecological practices.  Representatives from UNDP Belize, the Ministry of Economic Transformation, the Belize Fund for a Sustainable Future, and the National Biodiversity Office attended the event. Remarks were delivered by UNDP Resident Representative Kishan Khoday, Belize Fund Executive Director Leandra Cho-Ricketts, and officials connected to Belize’s climate finance and biodiversity sectors.  Organizers say the projects also include additional in-kind and cash contributions from donor partners and participating communities. Following the ceremony, delegates visited community initiatives connected to the projects, including indigenous craft displays and a Maya clothing enterprise designed to support women’s economic empowerment in southern Belize.  The GEF Small Grants Programme has operated in Belize for more than three decades and supports community-driven environmental and sustainable development initiatives across the country.