Effective Implementation of Joint Projects in Belize and El Salvador

* This Resident Coordinator performed functions in El Salvador and Belize from 2019-2023. 

Despite the challenges faced by El Salvador and Belize over the past two years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of tropical storms, the Resident Coordinator has led the UN teams to agreements with the national authorities in both countries on a roadmap to guide UN activities and advance shared development priorities over a five-year period: Belize signed the new regional multi-country Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2022-2026) for the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean; El-Salvador developed its own Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2022-2026) . Under the Resident Coordinator’s leadership, the UN country team in El Salvador also provided support to the Government as they prepared their Voluntary National Review of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, presented to the UN High-Level Political Forum in July 2022 – a critical tool that informs and shapes national policy planning for sustainable development.

In both countries, the Resident Coordinator played an important role in ensuring that even during periods of crises, UN country teams collaborated with the national authorities and partners to address development and humanitarian issues in a coordinated and streamlined manner. The Resident Coordinator and the Resident Coordinator’s office now serve as clear entry points to the UN offer enabling synergies across development and humanitarian interventions and ultimately ensuring effective joint planning and programming between the UN and the Government for development cooperation.

Watch the video below from the Resident Coordinator to learn more about results in Belize and El Salvador.

Belize
El Salvador
Latin America and the Caribbean

Birgit Gerstenberg

Former Resident Coordinator in Belize and El Salvador