Emergent Corp & BAPDA Awarded Micro Grants

Abigail McKay

Two other local organizations also received funding through the Belize Association of Planners and Research Triangle International micro grants. The Emergent Corp and the Belize Association of Persons with Diverse Abilities (BAPDA) received ten thousand Belize dollars each for six-month projects. Representatives of the two organizations share how the grants will be used to further good governance and accountability in Belize.

Dr. Abigail McKay, Researcher/Lead Consultant Emergent Corp

“So, we are going to be looking at the last elections at the village, town/municipalities and national elections, the last ones, using archival data and also doing interviews with women who successfully participated or not because part of the interest is finding out what makes them do what they do; why did they participate? What were the push and the pull factors that influenced them?  The intention based on the results of the interviews and the archival research is to actually make policy recommendations for how we can improve and increase how the government, through the agencies that try to make more women included in governance in our lives that the recommendations would be for them as to what kinds of things could be done to increase participation. So, government on one hand can use this information; also the national women’s commission; women issues network and all the other organizations that want to ensure that there is gender balance and that there is inclusive participation that we would aim at making changes there.  We are hoping that the results of this research project can provide some evidence-based, some factual information for Belize; not just ‘oh we know this is what people think’ but really what comes from the people themselves who participated. That is the kind of data that Belize needs to do more of.”