Project: Refugees and Asylum Seekers

in Belize

Project Status: Finished in 2019

Project Overview

The project increased the capacities of Persons of Concern (PoCs)* in Bella Vista Village in the Toledo District by enhancing their access to essential services, information, opportunities, and basic needs.

*Persons of Concern include refugees, returnees, stateless people, the internally displaced, and asylum-seekers.

The project worked directly with 123 PoCs, 65 children and 58 adults.

Overall Objective

To contribute to building the resilience, inclusion, and integration of PoCs in Belize.

Specific Objective

To foster the attainment of human rights of PoCs through capacity building, access to services and livelihood opportunities, awareness-raising activities, and spaces for information and recreation.

Key Activities and Deliverables

To raise knowledge and awareness about rights, services, and opportunities for PoCs, the project:

Organized 2 community events that included information booths, cultural activities, displays of products created at the project's workshops, competitions, and sports; more than 2.000 people attended the events.

Carried-out 2 sensitization sessions that informed about the project while fostering mutual understanding and support between community members.

Distributed information, communication, and education materials on refugee and asylum-seeking related topics. The materials were shared with PoCs and other community members at the training sessions and where made available at the local primary school, community and health centers, and government offices.

To increase the academic and professional capacity of PoCs, the project:

Adapted a Resource Center with equipment, furniture, and materials to carry out project activities.

Offered a basic course on English as a Second Language (ESL) and 12 training sessions on human rights and health to 47 teens and adults.

Trained 28 teens and adults on vocational and skill-building workshops centered on sewing, pastry making, and carpentry.

Provided an after-school programme and a mentorship programme to 38 teens. Activities included homework assistance, life skills training, games, self-esteem development, conflict management, peer pressure, among others.

Equipped the village’s primary school with musical instruments, and 45 students started music classes to develop their creativity and self-expression further.

Implemented a two-week preschool-preparation programme during the summer for 25 children and raised awareness on the importance of preschool attendance to their parents.

Built a playground outside the Resource Center to allow children to interact and have fun safely.

To share information about the project, the current legal system, and the living conditions and needs of PoCs as well as to create synergies and avoid the replication of efforts, the project:

Facilitated two knowledge-management sessions with the village council, the village advisory committee, school staff, women groups, health workers and immigration officers.