Belize has made significant progress to respond to climate change related challenges. According to Belize’s first Biennial Update Report by the National Climate Change Office (NCCO), support needed for the country is grouped into three different categories: technical assistance, financial support and capacity building (BUR,2020). A 2014 assessment categorized Belize’s vulnerability index to climate change as extremely high: ranking 9th on the list of 38 other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF, 2014), emphasizing the importance for Belize to mitigate and adapt to climate change in its short-, medium- and long-term development plans.

The Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment (MFEDI), in its pursuit to support the building of Belize’s resilience has internally considered and assessed its institutional gaps which prevents the entity from effectively operating in their full capacity as the National Designated Authority (NDA) and as the point of contact for most international funding institutions and multilateral banks. Some of the gaps include lack of an existing strategic plans to guide the Ministry in addressing medium term goals, revision of internal financial management systems, technical human resources, lack of environmental and social risk assessment mechanism and policies and limited project development and management capacity, especially at the operational and administrative levels.

This proposed Readiness grant is a two-tier proposal, (1) building the human resource capacity, policies and structures of the NDA, in its pursuit of seeking accreditation from GCF to become a Direct Access Entity; and (2) develop the strategic framework and institutional capacity of the Belize Association of Planners (BAP) and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing (MIDH) to guide the country in achieving climate resilient human settlements and infrastructures.