The 2nd Belize National Research Conference

Nigel Encalada

The second Belize National Research Conference was hosted inside the Jaguar Building at the University of Belize, Belmopan. It is part of a strategy among tertiary level institutions and the National Institute of Culture and History in the area of research with specific focus on the country’s development. Researchers are requested to submit papers on Belize’s security—strengths opportunities and threats. As we found out today, the goal is to establish a national research council to spearhead development initiatives with various ministries.

Nigel Encalada, Director, Institute of Social and Cultural Research

“It is one of the strategies that we are working on to aid the development of the country. In particular we look for research that’s targeting particular development sectors. So you will see research in the area of agriculture; you will see research in the area of tourism; you will see papers on the Belize-Guatemala issue; you will see papers on Belize’s health security, social security. So it’s one building on the other. Our intension is to establish a national research council o Belize. What we envisioned; we had started the discussions a year and a half ago and we spoke to the C.E.O.s of the Ministry of Education and Culture and we made an initial proposal to them and we subsequently had consultations. What is envisioned for the research council as a second phase is that we want to establish the council so that it can work along with the government and private sector in development areas.”

Felix Enriquez

Felix Enriquez, C.E.O., Ministry of National Security

“I really think that it is timely considering what happens seven days from now and also because of everything else that surrounds us in the region. And research that is required and the think tanks that we need to put together to ensure that we stay on top of the game and even ahead of the game, it is indeed very good that they have chosen security as the key theme for this year’s activities. I tried to focus on the pillars that our national defense and security strategies are based on and I tried to focus on some of the goals that we think are the key to success to ensure that Belize remains on top of its security requirements. I spoke a bit about the lack of resources and the need for us to work together and not in silos as a people—not just as a government—so that we are successful.”