Prime Minister Hon. John A. Briceño delivered Belize’s national statement to the General Debate of the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly on 26 September 2026.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed Belize’s commitment to the Charter and to multilateralism, noting that the international community already has the tools it needs, including the Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda, the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS and the law of the sea regime, and that what is needed is the will to deliver. He reported Belize’s progress: multidimensional poverty at 19.1 per cent, unemployment at 1.9 per cent and public debt reduced to 66.6 per cent of GDP. He also highlighted the implementation of Plan Belize 2.0 and the launch of the Belize Compact with the United States.
Looking beyond 2030, he called for a fairer development framework that addresses reparatory justice and the governance of artificial intelligence. He also called for the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index to be applied in concessional finance, debt sustainability analysis and the decisions of international financial institutions.
On peace and security, the Prime Minister addressed the situations in Haiti, Cuba, Palestine and Ukraine, and called for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the United Nations system. He reaffirmed Belize’s commitment to the peaceful settlement of its territorial disputes with Guatemala and Honduras. He informed the Assembly of an incursion by a Guatemalan military aircraft into Belize’s airspace on 23 September 2026 and called on Guatemala to respect the integrity of the proceedings before the International Court of Justice, which are scheduled for hearing in February 2027. He announced Belize’s support for the candidacy of H.E. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of Guyana for Secretary-General.
“Belize will do its part. We will invest in our people, protect our natural capital, modernise our economy, and choose dialogue over division and law over force.”