PROSPER Project advances community-led economic planning in southern Belize

SOUTHERN BELIZE (ILO News) – The EU-funded ILO PROSPER Project advanced community-led economic planning on 27-28 June 2026, moving Local Action Group (LAG) formation into the implementation phase in Seine Bight and Maya Centre and opening discussions on participation in Golden Stream.

In Seine Bight and Maya Centre, both of which joined PROSPER in May 2026, the meetings focused on establishing LAGs that will steer local economic development. In Golden Stream, where the community has not yet signed on, village representatives agreed to take the proposal to a wider community meeting before deciding.

The meetings were led by National Project Coordinator Tanisha Chavarria, alongside other prosper officials- Kylah Ciego, Marie August and Sindy Paulino. During her intervention in Seine Bight, Ms Chavarria emphasized that PROSPER rests on three pillars: community-led planning through Local Action Groups, skills training tied to selected value chains, and connecting local producers to markets. The project will concentrate support on two value chains, tourism and cacao, identified through a project study last year as offering the strongest income potential in the region. In Seine Bight, a coastal community with an established tourism sector, residents pressed a recurring theme: keeping strengthening tourism in the village. One community member described the aim as empowering local operators to connect directly with visitors, so that the value generated by tourism stays within the community and strengthens local livelihoods.

Seine Bight participants also spoke candidly about the need to be taken seriously as a community capable of managing its own economy, stressing that consistent service quality and patience would be essential to building a lasting tourism reputation. In Maya Centre, where cacao and tourism operate side by side, residents repeatedly urged the team to guide rather than simply fund. As one participant put it, a bag of money is of little use without the skills to apply it; what the community wants is training and mentorship that would outlast the project.

Ms Chavarria framed the project in the same terms. "This project is more like an investment in people, an investment in skills and capacity," she told residents in Maya Centre. "It's like when you go to school at the end you get one piece of paper, but nobody can take away that skill."

Each LAG must comprise at least 50 per cent women and include dedicated representation for young people aged 14-29. LAGs will be trained to produce local economic development plans for presentation to government and European Union partners. Next steps include sharing project documentation with Golden Stream's Village Council and confirming LAG membership and implementing partners in Seine Bight and Maya Centre.

PROSPER, formally Participation, Ownership and Sustainable Progress for Economic Resilience, is a four-year project implemented by the ILO with European Union funding. It supports participatory local economic development in 15 communities across southern Belize, with the aim of strengthening livelihoods, creating decent work opportunities and building resilient community economies that can be sustained beyond the life of the project.