United Nations Resident Coordinator Presents Credentials to Belize Prime Minister

Press Release - UNP Belize - December 16, 2010- United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator (RC) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative (RR), Mr. Roberto Valent, presented his credentials to Prime Minister of Belize, the Honorable Dean Barrow, in a meeting held in Belize City on Wednesday, December 15, 2010.Valent congratulated the Prime Minister on the Government of Belize’s work and the country’s progress in development. The Resident Coordinator went on to pledge the continued support of the United Nations organizations in the country and from an international level, to Belize, on the various existing initiatives, and new directions that the Government is planning.
During the meeting Mr. Valent spoke about the levels of achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Belize, as there needs to be a focus on the global joint effort needed for achievement by 2015. He emphasized that it is of vital concern to the UN agencies to be aligned with and support the national development priorities of Belize.
During his visit, the Resident Coordinator will meet with UN agencies in the country and other national counterparts, as well as visit some projects.
Mr. Roberto Valent as the newly appointed UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for the Republic of El Salvador and Belize, is based at UNDP Salvador, which provides support to United Nations organizations in Belize and to the UNDP Belize office headed by Dr. Francisco Roquette, Assistant Resident Representative.
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Edmund Castro is no longer a Minister of State

- Press Release - Office of the Prime Minister - Belmopan - November 24th, 2010 - The Office of the Prime Minister announces that the Prime Minister has, with immediate effect, removed Hon. Edmund Castro as a Minister of State. The decision was taken following a report made to the Prime Minister about an incident involving Hon. Castro. The Prime Minister was satisfied, after due consideration, that the report was substantially accurate; and that Hon. Castro had engaged in behavior inconsistent with the high standards of propriety to which the Prime Minister seeks to hold his ministers.

Accordingly, in keeping with his personal commitment to the electorate, and the UDP Administration’s general determination to practice good governance, the Prime Minister has acted.The question of a replacement Minister of State in the Ministry of Works, is one to which the Prime Minister will later give his attention.

Edmund Castro

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New Belize Passport Office inaugurated in Chicago

Deputy Prime Minister Vega inaugurates new Passport Office at the Consulate of Belize in Chicago, Illinois-Press Release - Belmopan, 15th October, 2010 - Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega today formally opened a new facility within the Honorary Consulate of Belize in Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. This facility is equipped to enable Belizeans in the area to apply for new machine readable passports. The new facility will serve thousands of Belizeans in the Chicago metro area who need to apply for passport renewals, and who previously had to travel very long distances to offices in New York, Washington, DC or Los Angeles to have access to these services.
During a small formal ceremony attended by several Belizean Community Leaders from Chicago, representatives of the Embassy of Belize in Washington, DC, and from the Consulate of Belize in Chicago, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that expanding and improving the Consular services to the Belizean Community overseas was an important element of the Diaspora Initiative, through which the Government of Belize has sought to reengage the Belizean community overseas in a strategic partnership for the development of our country.

The new office will be open to the public initially on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and all applicants will be received by appointment only. Depending on the demand, the office will also open on certain Saturdays. Belizeans wishing to make an appointment should contact Mrs. Debbie Schell, Honorary Consul of Belize in Chicago, at telephone number 847 759 9833. The Honorary Consulate of Belize in Chicago is located at 780 Lee Street, Suite 109, Des Plaines, Illinois, 60016.

Ex-Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Manuel Esquivel Knighted

Former Belize Prime Minister, Manuel Esquivel, is among Commonwealth Caribbean nationals honoured in the New Year Honours List by Britain's Queen Elizabeth. Mr Esquivel, who served two terms as prime minister in the 80s and 90s, receives the award for "his services to politics and to good governance".

Those also receiving knighthoods include retired senior Barbadian public officer, Harcourt Lewis, banker Edmund Lawrence of St Kitts and Nevis and Dunstan St Omer, a prominent artist in St Lucia.

Veteran Barbadian gospel singer Joseph Niles gets a CBE (Commander of the British Empire).

Jason Roberts, a striker for Blackburn Rovers in England’s Premier League, is awarded an MBE for his charity work in Grenada.