Belize, Taiwan Launch Disaster Preparedness Project for 16 Communities

Belize has launched a new project aimed at strengthening its ability to prepare for, monitor, and respond to natural hazards, with a focus on flood and wildfire risk.

The Belize Multi-Hazard Risk Management Capacity Building Project was launched Thursday by the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Solid Waste Management and the Ministry of the Public Service, Disaster Risk Management and Enterprise, with support from the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund.

The two ministries signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining the project’s governance framework. Minister Orlando Habet and Minister Henry Charles Usher signed the MOU, witnessed by Taiwan’s Ambassador to Belize, Amino Chi.

The project targets 16 high-risk communities, delivering interventions to strengthen local preparedness and response capability. It will also fund three automated wildfire early warning monitoring stations and provide specialised training for roughly 20 technical personnel on multi-agency coordination and hazard assessment.