Name of Act Chapter Name of Act Chapter
Interpretation Act 1 School Teachers Pensions A 42
Belize Constitution 4 Social Security Act 44
Ombudsman 5 Social Service Agencies Act 45
Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act
13 Village Councils Act 88
United Nations Resolutions and Convention (Enforcement)
24 Court of Appeal Act 90
Pensions Act 30 Supreme Court of Judicature 91
Widows’ and Children’s Pensions
32 Family Courts 93
Education Act 36 Evidence Act 95
Public Health Act 40 Indictable Procedure Act 96 Criminal Code 101 Protection Against Sexual
Harassment
107
Juvenile Offenders 119 Probation of Offenders 120 Genocide Defence Act 110 Certified Institutions
(Children’s Reformation)
121
Prisons Act 139 Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Act
150
Immigration Act 156 Belizean Nationality Act 161 Refugees Act 165 Married Persons (Protection)
Act
175
Families and Children Act 173 Married Women’s Property Act 176 Marriage Act 174 International Child Abduction 177 Domestic Violence 178 Administration of Estates 197
Wills Act 203 Labour Act 297
Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Inquiry
299 Trade Unions 300
Wages Council Act 302 Workmen’s Compensation Act 303
International Labor Organization Convention Act
304 Belize Red Cross Society Act 309
Non-Governmental Organizations
315 General Registry 327
Penal System Reform (Alternative Sentences) Act
102 National Institution of Culture and History
331
Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act
Prevention of Corruption Act 105
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (Prohibition) Act
Juries (Amendment) Act 2011 128
Evidence (Amendment) Act 2012 95 Finance and Audit (Reform) (Amendment Act, 2010)
15
Примечания
1 Most countries of the Caribbean and Central America, including Belize, have experienced net outward migration in the last 30 years. Yet Belize has also experienced high levels of gross inward migration since independence. Belizeans may have migrated, in other words, but at the same time many others have come to Belize to take their place. “The Economic History of Belize: From the 17the Century to Post-Independence.” Barbara Bulmer-Thomas
& Victor Bulmer-Thomas. April, 2012.
2 2010 Population & Housing Census, Belize. Statistical Institute of Belize.
3 In the Budget Presentation Speech for 2013/2014, the PM Barrow said “At the close of 2012, overall outstanding external public debt stood at US $1,0178.8 million, more than half of this amount being the Super Bond. Domestic public debt stood at BZD $417.2 million for a total public debt of BZD $2,452.8 million or approximately 77.6% of GDP.
If for the remainder of this decade, as was the case in FY 2012/2013, GoB’s net financing requirement remains neutral in relation to the overall public debt, then even with a modest 2.5% annual GDP growth, Belize’s ratio of public debt to GDP would fall beneath the 60% level considered eminently acceptable by international standards.
4 2009 Belize Country Poverty Assessment. August, 2012.
5 Situation Analysis of Older Persons. Belize, 2010.
6 This decreasing trend also reflects better data collection and processing, and elimination of duplication. The reported new number of cases in 2008 was 425, in 2009 was 365, in 2010 was 244, in 2011 was 226 and in 2012, there was a slight increase to 249 cases. Source:
Ministry of Health, Belize.
7 Of particular relevance is the increasing number of males that are affected with a widening of the gap when compared to the female population. Source: Ministry of Health, Data, 2012.
8 PowerPoint Presentation - Ministry of Health.
9 A Situational Analysis of Gender and Politics in Belize. December, 2012.
10 Statement of Purpose “Protocols for Multi-Sectoral Response to Sexual Violence”.
11 This summary is based upon: Report: Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Linkages in Belize, Belize, ISIS Enterprises and UNFPA, May 2010.
12 Under the Mesoamerica Health Initiative, tubal ligation and vasectomy will also be made available upon request.
13 The National Plan of Action for Children and Adolescents 2004-2015. Belize, 2004.
14 National Plan of Action for Children and Adolescents 2004-2009. Monitoring Report:
September, 2010.
15 Belize is a signatory to the ILO convention 138 and in 1999 passed the International Labour Office Conventions Acts to pass all ILO Conventions ratified by Belize into Law in Belize.
The Situational Analysis of Children and Women in Belize 2011 – An ecological review page 103 Compliance of Laws and Policies with CRC.
16 The Mercy Clinic was contracted as an NHI provider in 2009 and caters solely for the health care needs of the elderly.
17 According to the Poverty Assessment 2009, there were 25,390 all poor households, making up a population of 136,640 persons.
18 Belize Scorecard and Outlook Report, 2010. Millennium Development Goals.
19 Ibid. Page 62. These increases have affected urban and rural areas alike, but poverty (especially severe poverty) remains substantially higher in rural areas. The changes at district level have been much more varied. All districts except Toledo have experienced increases in poverty and indigence due to the above factors, from which Toledo has remained to some degree immune as a result of its low connectivity to the mainstream economy. The level of severe poverty in Toledo, however, remains far higher than in the rest of the country.
20 The Mesoamerica Health Project is valued at BZD $3 million. Although Toldeo shows the highest rate of rural poverty, slightly above Corozal, trends in the evolution of the poverty rate demonstrate that the situation in Toledo has improved dramatically between 2002 and 2009, while to the contrary, it has deteriorated in all other districts, most notably in Corozal, Orange Walk and Cayo, respectively.
21 The Project contains the following components: first, infrastructure, comprising drainage works for primary, secondary and tertiary drainage systems, sewage disposable systems, land filling and landscaping, and improvement of roads, streets and housing facilities;
second, education, training and social development, comprising textbook rental schemes, school nutritional programmes, entrepreneurial and small business support, employment access and training programmes; and third, institutional support, comprising operational expenses for a project implementation unit to manage the project implementation, supervision and inspection of works.
22 Established in memory of Jasmine Lowe, a 13 year old girl who was abducted/kidnapped and brutally murdered. The goal of Jasmine Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and the safe recovery of the child.
23 The Office of the DPP will also, in July 2013, assign a Senior Crown Counsel with the sole responsibility of looking after the training needs of the police in so far as the work of both Departments is affected. This is so as to ensure that police officers are kept abreast with changes in the law that impact on their work and with new techniques and requirements on a regular basis.
24 In 2011, an additional Judge was appointed to assist in the hearing of criminal cases at the Supreme Court. The objective was primarily to increase the number of cases being heard and in so doing reduce the backlog of pending cases. In addition, on many occasions judges who are primarily assigned to the civil jurisdiction of the Court would be reassigned (temporarily) to the criminal jurisdiction. This too was done in an effort to reduce the back log of criminal matters. Currently, the Chief Justice sits in both the civil and criminal jurisdiction which assists to expedite hearings and reduce back log.
25 The Long Term National Development Framework for Belize 2010-2030 has education as one of the 2 main pillars for Belize’s long term development and it calls for a “fundamental change in order to see education as a basic human right.” The importance of education is visibly impressed on policy makers across the spectrum, as reflected in other core policy documents, for example, The National Security Strategy of Belize, RESTORE Belize Draft Strategic Plan, and the National Poverty Elimination Strategy and Action Plan 2009-2013 (NPEASP). Like the NPESASP, most of these policy documents acknowledge the “clear link between levels of educational attainment and poverty [and that] increasing access to adequate education is, therefore, a priority for poverty reduction.”
26 The link between education and poverty was seen in the Country Poverty Assessment, 2010 which showed that among indigent households, only 12% of heads of family had a
secondary or post-secondary education compared with 35% for heads of households nationally.
27 The 2010 Census data from the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) estimates that the total number of children who are not enrolled in primary school is 2,235.
28 According to Official Statistics from the Ministry of Education, in 2010-2011 the dropout rate for secondary school was 8.1% and the repetition rate was 7%. For primary school, for the same period, dropout rate was 0.6% and repetition was 6.8%.
29 Even in programmes that traditionally tend to be male dominated such as business and natural science, girls outnumber boys. “Improving access, quality and governance of education in Belize.” Education Sector Strategy: 2011-2016, p. 24.
30 According to the Education Strategy, pre-primary children in rural areas generally have far less opportunity to attend pre-school than their urban counterparts. For primary education, 75% of children not enrolled in school are in the rural areas. With respect to secondary school, the young people in the rural areas of Toledo, Stann Creek and Orange Walk are the least well served, whilst all urban areas other than Corozal are better served than any rural area. Regarding higher education, enrolment favors the urban areas where the majority of colleges are situated. Rural students are disadvantaged in having to find both transport and accommodation costs if they attend urban colleges away from their home.
31 Three schools are recent beneficiaries under the School Feeding Programme: Belize River Valley, Dangriga Town and South Side Belize City.
32 One element of the fee structure that is being considered is the identification through a Proxy Means Test of students who are most vulnerable in regard to the capacity to pay fees for secondary education with a view to implementing a fee waiver system for such students.
33 The CDB is supporting GoB with its education sector reform based on the Belize Education Sector Strategy, valued at USD $2.5 million. The Project seeks to enhance learning
outcomes across all levels of the education sector. The ultimate impact will be enhancement of the human capital in Belize and poverty reduction. It focuses on 3 key policy objectives:
first, strengthened governance of the sector; second, improved quality and relevance of education; and third, increased equitable access.
34 Regarding Pillar 1, the Department hosts annual leadership exchanges, youth leadership workshops and camps and supports the development of youth governance structures in an effort to build youth participation and capacity in decision-making. Work is underway to establish the National Youth Council in which it is anticipated that the youths on the Council would undertake programmes at the Community Level and support the work of the Department through the youth empowerment coordinators, who are found in each district.
With respect to pillar 2, entrepreneurial and job preparedness training, business fairs and mixers, and the job placement services are a few of the activities that are supported alongside a coordinated approach with other youth stakeholders that support youth enterprise in Belize. This includes an entrepreneur training programme aimed at rural youths done in Ketchi, Spanish and English in 2012-2013. The Department is currently seeking to integrate this programme as part of its regular activities related to this pillar.
Regarding Pillar 3, the Department works with at-risk youth, in-and-out-of-school youths in providing alternative programmes to support life skills development and create better awareness of factors that affect a healthy transition to adulthood. An Alternative to Suspension Programme reaches the in-school youth on the verge of suspension and expulsion and helps to catch these youths before they drop out. The Ministry of Education also has an Apprenticeship Programme of which two of three cohorts have already completed. The Programme seeks to provide life skill training, job placement and
monitoring. There is also a 2 year programme aimed at at-risk young men, called South Side Youth Success Project that is funded by CARSI and UNDP. This programme has a cohort of 25 at-risk young men who go through a 3 month literacy programme, life skills training and have access to resources to assist them with social integration in society. The Ministry will assume ownership of this programme in October 2013. Other initiatives in the pipeline include partnering with tourism to develop a more structured apprenticeship programme.
Regarding Pillar 4, behavior modification is also promoted along the lines of Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness and Education Workshop in an effort to improve sexual behavioral practices and decrease incidence rate of persons living with HIV and AIDS in Belize.
35 Statistical Institute of Belize: 2012 Belize Mid-Year Population Estimates. Population estimate is 340,397.
36 Statistical Institute of Belize: 2012 Labour Force Survey.
37 Almost complete enrollment is reported for primary education. Gross enrollment of 95.1%
and a net enrollment rate of 83.7%. For secondary education, in 2011/12, there was a net enrollment rate of 50.4% and gross enrollment rate of 65.1% which is a decline in young people’s representation within the formal education system.
38 Restore Belize Strategic Plan 2011-2015, p. 29.
39 32% of all charges were “other offenses” while 22% were for dangerous drugs, representing the second highest area of convictions.
40 Increasing pressure has resulted in the use of the facility as a detention and remand center.
41 An IDB loan valued at USD $5 million.