Belize’s Foreign Minister Talks COVID-19 Response with Canada and CARICOM

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Immigration, Eamon Courtenay, has co-chaired the inaugural meeting of the CARICOM-Canada Foreign Ministers’ Group alongside with Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada.   Items on the agenda included coordinating the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular ensuring equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.  They agreed that initiatives like the World Health Organization’s COVAX Facility are critical for the collective fight against COVID-19.  In regard to climate resilience, Belize’s Foreign Minister reiterated that even before the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, small and vulnerable states were battling the impacts of climate change.  He said the international response has been piecemeal, or downright incoherent and ineffective, from both a developmental and climate perspective. Courtenay called on Canada to continue to use its membership in the United Nations framework to advocate for debt relief for small and vulnerable states and for reform of the criteria for accessing finance that takes account of states’ unique vulnerabilities.   Foreign ministers and representatives from all CARICOM countries attended the remote meeting along with officials from the CARICOM Secretariat.   Belize’s delegation also included Ambassador Amalia Mai, Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Immigration; Lawrence Sylvester, Ambassador of Belize to CARICOM; and Idelso Leslie, Foreign Service Officer.