Belize strengthens local leadership for disaster resilience across cities and towns

Belize’s cities and towns are exposed to a multitude of hazards, from storms and flooding to wildfires and heat, yet each municipality experiences these hazards differently, shaped by geography, growth patterns, and underlying social, financial, and infrastructural inequalities. Across these differences, municipalities share a common truth: resilience begins at the local level, where hazards are felt most directly and where prevention and preparedness save the most lives and livelihoods.  

To support the resilience journey, representatives from City and Town Councils, District Emergency Coordinators of the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO), and the Ministry of Rural Transformation, Community Development and Local Government, came together in a Training of Trainers engagement under the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative, aimed at equipping local leaders and NEMO counterparts with the tools and knowledge needed to strengthen disaster risk reduction and resilience in their own communities. The important part wasn’t the event itself, but what the event made possible: a stronger cadre of local actors who can guide resilience assessments, convene stakeholders, and help municipalities plan smarter for the hazards they face.  

For coastal areas like Belize City, the impacts of Hurricane Lisa in 2022 remain a clear example of the city’s vulnerability to storm surge, rainfall, and urban flooding, as neighborhoods across the Belize District faced widespread impacts. Inland communities such as Belmopan confront a different reality: while sheltered from storm surges, the capital and surrounding Cayo District have faced significant wildfire threats, driven by unusually hot and dry seasons, resulting in severe fire activity in recent years.

Despite these contextual differences, many systemic challenges are shared. Participants identified everyday barriers such as enforcing building codes, addressing informal settlements and the environmental impacts associated with them, improving public awareness of how everyday practices can increase exposure, and strengthening technical capacity in local offices. Alongside challenges, participants also discussed concrete, practical solutions. One proposal involved dedicating a defined percentage of municipal budgets to disaster risk reduction, with unspent funds rolling over into a contingency reserve.

Strengthening local leadership and capacity was therefore at the heart of the engagement. As Capt. Daniel Mendez, National Emergency Coordinator at NEMO, noted, “Resilience begins at the local level. Every community, every municipality plays a decisive role in shaping how prepared we are for the hazards we face.” The Training of Trainers approach aims to equip local actors with the skills to guide assessments, engage stakeholders and communities, and embed resilience into planning processes—ensuring that risk reduction is not isolated to any single institution, but driven by those closest to community needs.  

As part of the engagement, participants worked with the Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities, a tool under MCR2030 that helps municipalities evaluate governance, services, infrastructure, and local preparedness. This Scorecard supports local authorities in identifying gaps, prioritizing actions, and linking DRR to daily decision making.

Deputy Chief of UNDRR ROAC, Saskia Carusi, highlighted the importance of this work: “Local governments are on the front line of climate and disaster risk. Supporting them with tools, knowledge, and partnerships is essential to advancing resilience and accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.”  

She noted that the Sendai Framework Midterm Review calls for accelerated local action and Belize is already demonstrating leadership by investing in local capacity and fostering a pipeline of resilience trainers.

Belize City, the first municipality in the country to join MCR2030 in 2025, continues to serve as a national example to advance local DRR governance planning. Through its engagement with the initiative, the city systematically assessed governance, infrastructure, emergency preparedness, and social systems, identifying clear priorities for strengthening resilience. Its participatory approach demonstrated the value of inclusive planning, bringing together local authorities, civil society representatives, private sector, development partners, and community leaders to define a resilience pathway.

The Training of Trainers approach now aims to replicate and scale that experience, enabling municipalities across Belize to assess their own resilience gaps and chart actionable pathways tailored to their local contexts.

This effort is part of the broader Belize Inclusive Resilience in Safe and SMART Spaces Joint Programme, supported by the UN Joint SDG Fund. It aligns with global frameworks including the Sendai Framework, the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement, and the New Urban Agenda.