EU-funded ILO PROSPER project workshop strengthens local development efforts in Belize

Punta Gorda, Belize (ILO News) - Stakeholders from government institutions, the private sector, indigenous groups, and civil society convened virtually on 3 December 2025 for the second Local Economic Development (LED) System Workshop under the EU-funded ILO PROSPER Project. The session, supported by Mesopartner, marked an important milestone in validating the LED system diagnosis and converting months of consultation and fieldwork into concrete steps for strengthening local economic development in Southern Belize.

The virtual workshop was built on the first LED System workshop held on 24 September 2025, alongside insights from the Train-the-Trainers LED programme and the Seine Bight field simulation. Together, these activities continue to deepen understanding of how system actors interact and where targeted support can strengthen local development outcomes.

Opening the session, National Project Coordinator Tanisha Chavarria emphasized the strategic importance of the validation process. “This study was commissioned under the PROSPER project funded by the European Union and implemented by the ILO. Your participation today will really help shape how we operationalize the PROSPER project moving forward,” she said. She noted that the resulting action plan must reflect “the realities, the aspirations, the capabilities of everyone in the LED environment,” a theme consistent throughout the discussions.

Facilitators Mónica Muñoz and Americo Herrera guided participants through the Systemic Competitiveness Framework, which examines LED through four interconnected levels: meta, macro, meso, and micro. They highlighted how cultural identity, policy environments, institutional capacities, and micro-level economic actors all interact to influence development outcomes. Herrera noted that “it’s an interaction between actors and factors… We need to see the relationship between one level and another,” urging participants to consider LED as a living system rather than a collection of isolated activities.

This systems lens helped illuminate both the strengths and gaps within the Southern Belize LED environment. Participants pointed to strong cultural identity, committed community actors, and wide stakeholder engagement as positive foundations. At the same time, they highlighted persistent challenges, including governance constraints, participation fatigue, gaps in access to finance, and limited coordination among institutions and programmes. Communication emerged as a cross-cutting concern, with Sergio Garcia explaining, “I call it the 3C challenge: lack of cooperation, lack of coordination… Communication is a big problem. There are many resources and projects, but communities don’t always get the message.”

Breakout discussions brought these issues into sharper focus. Participants in the LED capacities group stressed the need for climate-resilient infrastructure, reliable internet access, appropriate financial services, and training delivered directly in communities and where needed, in local languages. Governance discussions highlighted the limitations faced by Village Councils, with Chavarria pointing out, “The Village Council has the mandate to promote economic development, but there are still challenges when it comes to having that autonomy.” Participants also underscored the importance of cultural sensitivity, including careful consideration of religious diversity to avoid inadvertently creating division.

Other groups emphasized strengthening territorial knowledge, improving project management capabilities, and ensuring that national policies are matched with the budgets and operational tools required to implement them. Perla Hinojosa noted that while policies may be anchored at the local level, “they need to move forward from having good intentions to action,” while Sebastian Hamel highlighted that the national budget is the decisive policy instrument that determines what initiatives truly advance.

These discussions generated a series of actionable priorities: improving communication and coordination across institutions; accelerating decentralization efforts to give Village Councils and DAVCOs greater operational space; expanding training in advocacy, project management, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship; prioritizing climate-resilient infrastructure and improved connectivity; clarifying institutional roles; and producing user-friendly tools that help stakeholders understand how LED systems function.

Looking ahead, Ms. Chavarria outlined the next steps for PROSPER, including collaboration with the Ministries of Rural Transformation and Economic Development to refine recommendations; community-level engagement across 15 communities through FPIC processes, Local Action Groups, capacity assessments, and skills training; and close coordination with the EU consulting team to ensure project-level and national policy work remain aligned. “It really is an investment in people, in communities, in capacity, in advocacy, in dialogue,” she said. “That’s what PROSPER really aims to achieve.”

The workshop concluded with a shared understanding that successful LED cannot rely on isolated efforts. It requires a cohesive system where communities, institutions, and policies reinforce one another. As Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke of Mesopartner reminded participants, “It’s not sufficient to have only a bottom-up participatory approach. This needs to be embedded in a system of local economic development.” Participants left the session not only with a strengthened diagnosis of Belize’s LED system, but with deeper ownership of the collective steps needed to transform it.

The virtual workshop marked another meaningful milestone in PROSPER’s ongoing collaboration with national and local partners. The insights generated will contribute directly to shaping targeted actions, improved policy coherence, and stronger institutional coordination, ensuring that LED efforts in Southern Belize are grounded in local realities and positioned for long-term impact.