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  • Fernandez Elected CTO Chairman as Antigua and Barbuda Returns to Regional Tourism Leadership

    Fernandez Elected CTO Chairman as Antigua and Barbuda Returns to Regional Tourism Leadership

    At a landmark gathering for Caribbean tourism governance, Antigua and Barbuda’s top tourism official has secured a historic leadership role that places the twin-island nation at the center of the region’s travel and hospitality strategy. The Honourable H. Charles “Max” Fernandez, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Transportation and Investment for Antigua and Barbuda, won unanimous backing from regional counterparts to take the position of Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Council of Ministers and Commissioners of Tourism.

    This election marks a watershed moment for Antigua and Barbuda: it has been more than 15 years since a representative of the nation held the chairmanship of the CTO, the Caribbean’s preeminent body dedicated to advancing regional tourism development. The appointment comes at a critical turning point for the Caribbean’s travel sector, which continues to navigate shifting global economic and travel patterns after years of unprecedented disruption.

    Fernandez’s nomination was put forward during the CTO Annual General Meeting by Anguilla’s Tourism Minister Hon. Cardigan Connor, with seconding support from Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett. No opposing candidates earned support, resulting in a unanimous vote of confidence from across the region’s tourism leadership. He will complete the handover from outgoing Chairman Ian Gooding-Edghill, Barbados’ Minister of Tourism and International Transport.

    In a rare alignment of leadership that expands Antigua and Barbuda’s influence within the CTO, Colin James, Chief Executive Officer of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, will also step into the role of Chairman of the CTO Board of Directors alongside Fernandez’s appointment. This dual leadership placement solidifies the twin-island nation’s guiding role in shaping the organization’s near-term priorities.

    Speaking after his confirmation, Fernandez framed the appointment as a collective duty rather than a singular national achievement. “This is not simply an Antigua and Barbuda moment; it is a Caribbean responsibility,” he stated. “Tourism remains the economic lifeblood of so many of our countries and territories, and at a time of tremendous global change, our responsibility is to ensure that this industry remains competitive, resilient, inclusive and, above all, beneficial to the people of the Caribbean.”

    The incoming chair has laid out three core priorities for his tenure that aim to reshape the regional tourism sector for long-term sustainability. First, he will prioritize advancing women into leadership roles at every operational and executive level of Caribbean tourism, alongside expanding targeted investment to nurture the next generation of regional tourism professionals. Second, improving and expanding regional air and sea connectivity will remain a top strategic focus, a key lever for boosting intra-regional travel and reducing reliance on long-haul tourist flows.

    Fernandez brings decades of proven leadership in Caribbean tourism to the role, earning regional acclaim for his steady steering of Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism sector through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was named Caribbean Tourism Minister of the Year for 2020/2021. His election took place while he is in Georgetown, Guyana, participating in the 2026 State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC), which is convening this year under the theme “Tourism Futures: Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive.”

    Ahead of the official conference opening, Fernandez took part in the CTO’s closed-door Council of Ministers meetings and Annual General Meeting, and featured as a headline speaker at the inaugural Future Leaders Forum. At the event, he engaged directly with university students and emerging industry professionals to exchange ideas on the future trajectory of Caribbean tourism. He is also scheduled to take part in the official launch of SeaSuiteMagazine, a new CTO-produced publication that highlights and honors women trailblazers across every segment of the Caribbean tourism industry.

    Fernandez closed his initial remarks by thanking his regional colleagues for the trust they placed in him to lead the council, and paid tribute to outgoing chair Gooding-Edghill for his thoughtful stewardship of the organization through a period of ongoing recovery and transition. “This is our Caribbean. This is our industry. And its future must be one that we shape together,” he said.

  • Assessment, clean-up of health facilities continue after flooding

    Assessment, clean-up of health facilities continue after flooding

    Overnight torrential rainfall and widespread flooding have left St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ health system facing significant disruptions, with the Ministry of Health confirming that ongoing evaluation and remediation work is underway at medical facilities across the island chain on Tuesday.

    In an official press release issued to keep the public informed, the Ministry outlined that its full network of healthcare personnel has been deployed to affected sites, with a core priority of accelerating the restoration of critical medical services impacted by the disaster. While crews work to complete repairs and clean-up, the Ministry has cautioned that non-urgent healthcare offerings will likely face temporary interruptions, and urged residents to contact their intended facility in advance of any travel to confirm their required service is still operating.

    The release also included guidance for residents who cannot access their local district health center: the Ministry advised that patients should seek necessary care from the closest operational medical facility in their area. For all life-threatening emergency situations, the public has been directed to either call the dedicated emergency hotline at 456-1955 or proceed directly to the Emergency Department at Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, the territory’s main public healthcare facility.

    Officials added that they will continue rolling out timely updates to the general public as new details emerge about facility access and the return of full service availability across the country, emphasizing transparency and public safety as top priorities through the recovery process.

  • Agriculture Ministry Rebuilds Major Dam to Boost Water Supply for Antigua and Barbuda Farmers

    Agriculture Ministry Rebuilds Major Dam to Boost Water Supply for Antigua and Barbuda Farmers

    Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Agriculture has launched a large-scale dam construction and rehabilitation initiative, a key component of the national government’s broader strategy to enhance water access for agricultural producers and ramp up domestic food production. Agriculture Minister Anthony Smith Jr. confirmed that farmers operating in the Browne and Thwaites farming districts will be the first groups to benefit from the upgraded water infrastructure. The core goal of the project is to expand national water storage capacity, creating a more reliable water supply that will enable consistent growth in agricultural output across the country. According to Minister Smith, infrastructure upgrades will roll out sequentially across all major farming regions, with the ministry prioritizing unmet infrastructure needs and delivering targeted supplementary support to local producers at every stage of the project. The initiative is not an isolated effort: it aligns with a formal directive issued by the country’s Cabinet, which ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to speed up development of dams, retention ponds, and other water-catchment facilities. Cabinet officials have repeatedly emphasized that consistent, reliable access to water is a non-negotiable foundational requirement for growing local food production and reducing dependence on imported food staples. To fund this national agricultural upgrade, the government of Antigua and Barbuda has secured approximately $9 million in financing through a joint soil and water management program administered by the Caribbean Development Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization. This funding will be allocated exclusively to the construction and rehabilitation of dams, water-catchment ponds, and other critical water conservation infrastructure across the country. Minister Smith reaffirmed the ministry’s long-term commitment to the project, noting that infrastructure improvement work will continue moving methodically through farming districts across the nation, with the end goal of strengthening producer capacity and driving sustained growth in agricultural output for years to come.

  • PSU Calls for Accountability Amid Customs, Immigration Allegations

    PSU Calls for Accountability Amid Customs, Immigration Allegations

    Amid growing public attention over unconfirmed and confirmed allegations of misconduct among frontline public servants in Belize’s Customs and Immigration departments, the Public Service Union (PSU) has outlined a clear, firm stance that balances protection of due process for its members with zero tolerance for corrupt or unethical behavior.

    In an official statement released on October 6, 2026, the union confirmed it is actively monitoring ongoing reports of improper conduct across the public service, including the high-profile claims involving officers at the two border and ports agencies. While the PSU did not name any individual officers or reference specific open cases in its public release, the statement comes just days after local police announced extortion charges against Ruben Requena, an active Immigration officer.

    According to investigators, Requena is accused of demanding a $6,000 illicit payment from a shipping agent based at Big Creek Port. The complaint alleges Requena threatened the agent after she made moves to report the unlawful demand to authorities. To date, the PSU has not confirmed whether Requena is a union member, nor has it directly addressed his specific case in its public communication.

    In its statement, the union emphasized that its core mandate does not include covering up unethical behavior. “Representing a member is not condoning misconduct,” the release read. The PSU’s position is rooted in the principle that every public servant is entitled to fair procedural protections and legal representation under existing public service rules, but union membership does not grant immunity for illegal or improper acts. “Union membership is not a shield for wrongdoing,” the statement added.

    The union pointed to specific sections of Belize’s Public Service Regulations — Section 82(2)(e), (f), (g) and (h) — which outline rules addressing professional misconduct and behavior that undermines public trust in an officer’s integrity. The PSU stressed that these regulatory provisions must be applied evenly, fairly and without exception across all ranks of the public service. When credible evidence confirms misconduct has occurred, the union said, such behavior cannot be justified, excused, or protected by the organization.

    To clarify its position for both members and the general public, the PSU repeated its core stance: “The PSU will defend due process. We will not defend wrongdoing.”

    The organization went on to issue a formal call for relevant government ministries and oversight authorities to handle all ongoing disciplinary investigations into the allegations promptly, impartially and with full transparency. While the union affirmed that every accused officer is entitled to the opportunity to defend themselves against claims, it also noted that the public has a non-negotiable right to trust the public servants empowered to serve the community.

    The statement further noted that systemic corruption and isolated cases of misconduct do not just harm the public — they also damage the reputation of the vast majority of public servants who carry out their duties honestly and with dedication. “Corruption and misconduct erode public confidence and dishonour the many Public Officers who serve with honesty and dedication,” the release said. In closing, the PSU urged all its members to adhere to the highest possible standards of integrity, professionalism, and open governance in all their daily work.

  • Belize Asks OAS to Investigate Guatemalan Military Aircraft Incursion

    Belize Asks OAS to Investigate Guatemalan Military Aircraft Incursion

    In an official cabinet statement released on Tuesday, Belize’s top national security body has formally instructed the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to launch a request to the Organization of American States (OAS) for a full investigation into an unauthorized entry of a Guatemalan military aircraft into Belizean airspace that took place late last month. The incursion, which occurred on September 24, has reignited tensions over territorial integrity between the two neighboring Central American nations, amid a pattern of repeated cross-border encounters in recent months.

    Prime Minister John Briceño led an emergency, out-of-cycle meeting of Belize’s National Security Council on October 5, one day before the public statement was issued. During the meeting, council members reviewed comprehensive primary and secondary radar recordings that verified the incursion. The data confirms the aircraft in question belongs to the Guatemalan Armed Forces, with the registered tail number FAG706. The flight took place as part of a regional counternarcotics operation that Belize was never included in, according to the official release.

    Based on verifiable radar data collected by Belizean authorities, the release outlines a precise timeline of the unauthorized flight. At 7:29 p.m. local time, the military jet entered Belizean airspace from the east at an altitude of 4,000 feet. Roughly 38 minutes after entering, at 8:07 p.m., the aircraft’s crew disabled its transponder, a move explicitly intended to avoid detection by secondary radar systems. Just three minutes later, Belize’s primary radar systems successfully tracked the jet. After being detected, the aircraft altered its course to travel southwest, passing within close proximity of Punta Ycacos, a coastal community located in Belize’s southern Toledo District. By approximately 8:40 p.m., the jet exited Belizean territorial airspace, putting the total duration of the incursion at one hour and 11 minutes.

    This new formal request for an OAS investigation follows an earlier demand from Belize’s Foreign Ministry that the intergovernmental body seek clarification on the incident directly from Guatemalan officials. The cabinet statement confirms Belize will maintain full transparency throughout the probe, making all collected radar data and other relevant evidence available to OAS investigators.

    The National Security Council took the opportunity to reaffirm Belize’s long-standing commitment to collaborative regional counternarcotics work alongside neighboring partner nations. However, the statement made clear that the government cannot accept this latest violation of its territorial sovereignty, pointing to a string of similar incidents in recent months: multiple unauthorized entries by Guatemalan Armed Forces into Belize’s southern maritime territory, and repeated threats of armed force along the Sarstoon River, a long-disputed border region between the two countries.

    Belize’s government called on Guatemalan authorities to adhere to long-established bilateral confidence-building frameworks that have helped prevent escalation along the border for decades. The statement emphasized that upholding these agreements is critical to maintaining the regional peace and stability required to effectively tackle shared, evolving security challenges, including the transnational drug trade. Notably, the official release does not speculate on the purpose of the Guatemalan jet’s unauthorized flight into Belizean airspace, as no clear explanation for the incursion has been confirmed. So far, Guatemalan officials have issued a flat denial that the flight ever took place.

  • Parliament backs housing loan plan, but Opposition has concerns

    Parliament backs housing loan plan, but Opposition has concerns

    Saint Lucia’s national parliament has given final approval to a state guarantee backing a $20 million loan sourced by the Saint Lucia Development Bank (SLDB), a measure designed to expand housing access for the island nation’s low- and middle-income households. Under the terms of the agreement, the SLDB will take on the loan from the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China, with the national government assuming full liability for repayment should the development bank fail to meet its debt obligations. All funds disbursed through the facility will be channeled into targeted housing financing for Saint Lucian residents, covering both new construction projects and a range of existing home upgrades.

    During plenary debate in the country’s Lower House last Tuesday, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre outlined the core objectives of the initiative, framing the new credit facility as a targeted intervention to ease Saint Lucia’s persistent national housing shortage by lowering barriers to mortgage access for first-time buyers. Pierre emphasized that the program’s scope extends far beyond ground-up new home construction, noting that it also supports current homeowners seeking financing for critical upgrades including structural repairs, property extensions, full-scale renovations, drainage improvements, retaining wall installations, and the adoption of climate-friendly residential upgrades such as renewable energy systems and rainwater harvesting infrastructure.

    To qualify for support under the program, applicants must show a minimum of two consecutive years of steady employment with the same employer or within the same industry. Approved candidates will be eligible for 100 percent mortgage financing, with Pierre confirming that the facility will offer borrowers competitive, market-aligned interest rates designed to keep monthly payments manageable.

    When the proposal moved to the Senate for review Thursday, opposition lawmakers raised pointed objections to the scope of the government’s plan, arguing that expanded access to credit alone does not address the fundamental structural issues driving Saint Lucia’s housing crisis. Senate Opposition Leader Dominic Fedee cited a 2014 analysis from the Ministry of Finance’s Research and Policy Unit, which first documented the island’s growing housing deficit and the increasing barriers working-class residents face when attempting to build or purchase personal property. Fedee argued that the core barrier to stable housing in Saint Lucia is overall affordability, rooted in stagnant household incomes. “The root of the problem is how much people make,” he stated. “Unless we drastically increase household income, unless our economic policy is robust and innovative enough, we are spinning top in mud.”

    Opposition legislators stressed that even with the new low-barrier financing option in place, many ordinary Saint Lucians will still be unable to qualify for or afford monthly mortgage payments. They further called on the government to go beyond its current policy of removing Value Added Tax from building materials, urging the full elimination of all taxes on construction inputs to drive down overall building costs across the sector.

    Government representatives pushed back against opposition claims, clarifying that the new credit facility was never presented as a standalone solution to all of the country’s housing challenges. Prime Minister Pierre made this framing clear during his initial address to the Lower House, noting that “today is not a one shot. It came from a programme of trying to improve the housing stock and decreasing the housing deficit in this country.” The new loan facility, he confirmed, is one component of a broader, multi-pronged national strategy to address housing needs, with a number of complementary housing projects already in progress across the island.

  • World Bank predicts 1.1 per cent growth for Saint Lucia

    World Bank predicts 1.1 per cent growth for Saint Lucia

    The World Bank on Tuesday released its October 2026 *Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Update*, offering a mixed growth outlook for the region and outlining a roadmap for harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) as a new engine of long-term productivity and development.

    For the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia specifically, the report projects a 1.1% economic expansion in 2026 after an estimated 0.6% contraction in 2025. Growth is forecast to accelerate to 2.1% in 2027 before easing slightly to 1.9% in 2028. Across the entire Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, the aggregate growth forecast for 2026 stands at 2.2%, though the report underscores that economic trajectories vary dramatically across different countries.

    The report notes that within the Caribbean, resource-rich nations like Guyana and Suriname are enjoying robust oil-fueled expansion, while tourism-dependent island economies such as Saint Lucia are stuck in a slower post-pandemic recovery, weighed down by persistently high energy and transportation costs. Against this uneven growth backdrop, the World Bank identifies AI as an underutilized catalyst that could drive new productivity gains and broader economic growth across the region.

    However, the international financial institution warns that simply expanding access to AI technology will not automatically deliver improved productivity. The core bottleneck holding back the region is what the report calls “absorptive capacity” — the ability of governments, businesses, and workers to effectively adopt and adapt AI tools to local needs. To lower barriers to entry, the report highlights “small AI” as a promising pathway for developing economies. These low-cost, purpose-built AI solutions are designed to solve specific industry and operational problems, putting specialized expertise within reach of small businesses, frontline workers, and public service providers even through basic mobile devices.

    The report does flag key risks, however: if smaller enterprises lack the necessary skills, management infrastructure, and access to resources to leverage AI effectively, most of the economic gains from the technology could become concentrated in a small cohort of large, already highly productive firms, widening the productivity gap across the region. Currently, while businesses across LAC have started integrating AI into their workflows, most adoption is limited to basic tasks like content drafting and information searching, rather than more impactful integration into core business processes. The World Bank cites gaps in managerial expertise and technical knowledge as the primary barriers to deeper, more transformative integration.

    Beyond productivity, the report also addresses AI’s impact on the labor market, noting that AI-driven disruption will extend far beyond traditional office-based roles. As AI and physical automation advance, different worker groups will face varying degrees of employment exposure, though roles that require complex physical skills or interpersonal qualities like empathy and community connection are expected to remain far more resilient to automation. To support workers through this transition, the World Bank recommends targeted workforce development interventions, including short-cycle higher education programs and modernized technical vocational education and training (TVET) initiatives, to help workers shift into more resilient occupations.

    For regional governments, the report advises against pouring resources into building costly frontier AI models, and instead recommends prioritizing foundational infrastructure that enables widespread, effective AI adoption. Key priorities include stronger data governance frameworks, interoperable digital information systems, secure digital infrastructure, and robust cybersecurity protections. Governments should also support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to integrate AI into their operations through targeted technical assistance, skills training, and financial support. Additionally, governments can act as “anchor clients” for local AI innovation by expanding digital government services, creating consistent demand that nurtures the growth of local AI ecosystems.

    The report concludes that the region’s modest current growth projections reflect existing policy choices rather than the LAC region’s full economic potential. To unlock that potential and capture the broad-based benefits of AI, the World Bank argues that regional stakeholders must invest in human capital, digital infrastructure, and modern management practices, while proactively working to ensure productivity gains from AI are shared across all segments of society.

  • Blackmoore says 21 illegal firearms recovered in Dominica so far this year

    Blackmoore says 21 illegal firearms recovered in Dominica so far this year

    At the official launch of the long-awaited Missing Person Alert System this Monday, Dominica’s National Security Minister Rayburn Blackmoore made a key disclosure regarding the country’s ongoing campaign against unregulated weapons: 21 illegal firearms have been seized across the island so far in 2026. The haul includes a range of dangerous weaponry, among them four rifles, two shotguns, and 15 pistols — many of which carry elevated risk. Blackmoore explained that a number of the seized pistols are convertible, meaning they can be reconfigured to function as rifles, and all are semi-automatic, characteristics that he classed as exceptionally dangerous.

    In a recent bust alone, law enforcement recovered six illegal weapons, one of which was a 7.62mm battlefield-grade rifle. Blackmoore emphasized that such military-grade weaponry has no place in Dominica, a small island nation that prides itself on its peaceful social order. “This rifle is meant for the battlefield, and Dominica is not a place for that. Now there is no battlefield in Dominica. This is a beautiful, peaceful country,” he said, noting that the upcoming Creole Festival and national independence celebrations require a stable, secure environment to welcome visitors and community members alike.

    Blackmoore extended public commendation to frontline law enforcement and customs officials for their consistent vigilance in intercepting illicit weapons entering the country. He credited the government’s recent investment in high-powered scanning equipment at all major ports of entry with making a tangible difference in interception efforts. “Those interventions are helping,” he said, adding that past measures including gun amnesties and cash rewards for tip-offs leading to weapons recoveries have also formed a core part of the government’s strategy to take illegal firearms off the street.

    While acknowledging the constitutional separation of powers and confirming that the executive branch does not interfere with judicial rulings or direction of the courts, Blackmoore stressed that every pillar of the justice system carries a shared responsibility to protect public safety. The minister closed by reaffirming the government’s ongoing commitment to supporting police and customs operations, and urged all Dominican residents to pursue peaceful resolutions to personal and community disputes, reinforcing the nation’s commitment to preserving its legacy of peace.

  • Wereldbank verwacht slechts 2,2% groei voor Latijns-Amerika en Caribisch gebied

    Wereldbank verwacht slechts 2,2% groei voor Latijns-Amerika en Caribisch gebied

    On Tuesday, the World Bank released its latest *Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Update*, painting a mixed picture for regional economic performance through 2026. After recording 2.4% growth in 2025, the region is projected to see aggregate growth stall at just 2.2% this year, marking a prolonged period of modest expansion that falls short of transformative development goals. While the regional average remains subdued, the report highlights stark disparities in growth trajectories across individual economies, with policy choices and institutional strength emerging as key differentiators.

    Several economies stand out as outperformers, bucking the regional slowdown trend. El Salvador and Paraguay have exceeded average growth forecasts, a result the World Bank attributes to improved public safety, successful fiscal consolidation, and robust inflows of private investment. Panama and the Dominican Republic also record solid, above-average growth rates. Most notably, Argentina is on track to notch three consecutive years of economic expansion from 2025 through 2027, a milestone not achieved in nearly two decades. The World Bank links this turnaround to fiscal adjustments, broad tax reforms, and a shift toward a more open trade and investment regime.

    Susana Cordeiro Guerra, World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasized that the performance of high-growth countries offers a clear blueprint for wider progress. “Higher, sustained growth is within reach when stable macroeconomic policy is paired with stronger institutions, targeted structural reforms, and deliberate investment in long-term capacity,” she noted in the report.

    Despite these bright spots, the World Bank warns that significant downside risks continue to weigh on the region’s outlook. Volatility in global energy prices complicates efforts to bring persistent inflation down to central bank targets, forcing monetary policymakers to keep interest rates higher for longer. Elevated real interest rates in turn curb lending to businesses and households, crowding out private investment. High public debt levels and soaring debt servicing costs also eat into government fiscal space, forcing cuts to critical public investment in infrastructure and social services. Compounding these economic risks, the El Niño climate pattern threatens to disrupt agricultural output and hydropower generation, pushing up food and energy prices and exacerbating inflationary pressures.

    Beyond near-term macroeconomic risks, the report devotes extensive analysis to the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) for the region, while warning that a critical skills gap threatens to leave Latin America and the Caribbean behind in the global AI race. The technology has the power to drive significant productivity gains across every sector of the regional economy, but widespread adoption remains held back by structural barriers, not just cost or access issues.

    Currently, just 17% of working-age adults in the region use generative AI in their work, roughly half the adoption rate recorded in the United States and Canada. Contrary to common assumptions, cost and access to technology are not the biggest bottlenecks. The primary barriers are a lack of managerial expertise to guide AI integration, gaps in core digital skills among the existing workforce, and limited capacity among firms to restructure internal work processes around new AI tools.

    The report also breaks down AI’s uneven impact on regional labor markets. Around 8% of regional workers hold high-skill, knowledge-intensive roles that stand to benefit significantly from AI augmentation. By contrast, roughly 10% of workers hold routine cognitive jobs that face high risk of automation. Over the longer term, as automation technology becomes cheaper, even manual labor will face growing disruption: one quarter of all regional workers currently perform routine manual work that could be automated in the coming decades.

    To address these challenges and seize AI’s opportunities, the World Bank is urging regional governments to prioritize investment in short-term technical and vocational training programs, upgrade digital public infrastructure, and strengthen the technological innovation capacity of domestic firms. The report also notes that low-cost, locally tailored AI applications already offer high impact opportunities across key sectors including education, telemedicine, public service delivery, small and medium enterprise development, and agricultural productivity, providing a accessible starting point for countries at every income level to build their AI ecosystems.

  • How Belize’s COVID Education Response Became a Development Superhero

    How Belize’s COVID Education Response Became a Development Superhero

    As countries around the globe continue to unpack the long-term lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, one small Central American nation has emerged as a global stand-out for its innovative response to education disruptions. Belize has secured a place as one of just six finalists in the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) 2026 Superheroes of Development competition, honored for reimagining its national teacher support model when pandemic-related school closures upended traditional learning systems.

    Speaking at the competition’s presentation event, Ingrid Acosta, a representative from Belize’s Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, walked audiences through the crisis that forced the country to rethink a decades-old approach to teacher training. When the pandemic hit, teachers were abruptly thrown into uncharted territory: they were required to master new digital tools and remote learning methodologies almost overnight, all while continuing to meet the social and academic needs of vulnerable students. For years, Acosta explained, the default solution for teacher struggling had been one-off workshops that left little lasting change.

    “Too often when our teachers struggle, the answer is another workshop. You attend, you go home. But the classroom, it stays just the same,” Acosta told attendees. Recognizing that traditional, one-time training could not address the urgent, ongoing needs of educators navigating a public health crisis, the ministry rolled out a fundamentally new model: hybrid ongoing coaching that combines in-person guidance with flexible virtual support. This model shifts away from passive instruction to active, on-the-job mentorship, meeting teachers where they are as they test new teaching strategies.

    “Real transformation occurs when someone stands alongside a teacher and supports her as she tries something new,” Acosta said. The results of the program have exceeded even the most optimistic projections: internal data presented at the event shows that the share of teachers delivering consistent, high-quality lessons jumped dramatically from 30% pre-program to 73% after the coaching model was rolled out nationwide.

    Beyond immediate improvements to classroom instruction, the initiative has left Belize with a durable, scalable public good: a cohort of trained instructional coaches and a replicable coaching framework that can be adapted to other public development programs. For the IDB, the Belize model stands as a powerful case study in adaptive development, demonstrating how local programs can pivot to meet unforeseen crises, design context-appropriate solutions, and leave behind actionable insights that benefit nations facing similar challenges.

    Acosta emphasized that the success of the program debunks a common myth that educators are resistant to systemic change. She noted that teachers are eager to adopt new, more effective practices to support their students, but they need sustained, relevant support rather than disconnected training. “When we empower a teacher, we transform much more than a classroom. We help to transform society one classroom at a time,” she said. The three overall winners of the 2026 Superheroes of Development competition will be announced later the same day following all finalist presentations.