A middle-income country in Central America with 359,000 inhabitants. WHO estimates 81 road traffic fatalities with the rate of 24.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. According to Belize Police Department, vulnerable road users represent over 50% of road crash victims. According to WHO data, Belize has weak laws addressing all five risk factors. Belize is not a contracting party to any of the UN Road Safety Conventions.
United Nations Country Team in Belize
The Special Envoy gave an overview of his recent activities and presented the terms of his mandate. The Special Envoy reminded that Belize was not a contracting party to any UN Road Safety Conventions and encouraged their accession. The Special Envoy shared about five pillars of the Global Plan and placed an emphasis on education and law enforcement. The UNCT presented their activities and shared about existing road safety issues. The UNCT shared about an issue with the rapid post-crash response, and high economic cost of road crashes. The Special Envoy encouraged the implementation of a Vision Zero programme in Belize given the relatively low absolute number of road traffic fatalities in the country. The following members of the UN Country Team participated in the meeting:
o Ms. Karen Bernard, UNDP
o Ms. Paulette Wade OiC, UNICEF
o Mr. Rene Chuc, IOM
o Ms. Tisa Grant, UNFPA
o Mr. Andreas Wissner, UNHCR
o Dr. Carlos Ayala OiC, PAHO/WHO
o Mr. Jose Manuel Ruiz, IDB