Belize Ranks 124th on Global Youth Development Index

Today, the Commonwealth released its global index on the state of youth and Belize is not doing so well.  Out of one hundred and eighty-one countries, Belize is ranked one hundred and twenty-fourth on the 2020 Global Youth Development Index which measures the status of young people around the world. The index reveals that the conditions of young people have improved around the world by only three percent between 2010 and 2018. Of note is that the data presented pre-dates the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kevin Bernard

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Youth

“Let me say that that report is based under the previous administration and it does not reflect what we are doing now. But again it points out where we may have gone wrong as a country. Being ranked one hundred and twenty-four out of a hundred and eighty-one countries is testament that there is a lot of work that needs to be done to assist the Belizean youth and to assist the youth across this country. As a government, there is need for us to put serious attention on youth development work in this country. The resources in the Department of Youth Services need to be improved. We have been saying this and the government, when we got into government; we met a very terrible situation financially, economically. We are committed over the next few years that the budget for youth in this country, must be increased. We must be able to achieve the goals and objectives of Plan Belize, but at the same time, we need to ensure that whatever we do, whatever policy we set out, whatever programs and services we are offering is able to touch as much the lives of our Belizean youth across the length and breadth of this country.”