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Policy Drafting in Belize
- Belize City
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Bridget Cooper volunteered with Challenges Worldwide in 2005 and has since returned to Belize, with CWW, on a different project.
In her own words:
"For many years I was a social worker in the UK, and then for about ten years I worked in developing countries in management roles for NGOs. My husband worked overseas throughout his career. From 1994 we ran our own small tourist company, but also took time out to do several jobs that interested us in developing countries.
In 2004 we closed our company for various reasons, including the fact that we wanted more flexibility to work and travel when we wished. We were both interested in the idea of working as volunteers somewhere, to live what we felt would be a very different experience from that of the usual expatriate on contract. We had both worked as managers for a volunteer-sending NGO and had a pretty good idea of what we might expect from that angle, but neither of us had ever been to Central America and knew little about the culture or politics of that region.
My task in Belize was to complete the work started by a former CWW volunteer, to write a national policy for persons with disabilities. At least 8% of the Belize population has a disability and yet there was almost no legislation to protect their rights or ensure their well-being as members of society. Neither were state resources channelled into services for them, the only provision being made by NGOs.
After a couple of weeks I felt sufficiently informed to draw up work objectives. Because my task was so straightforward – to write a policy – this was not too difficult. It meant thinking carefully through the successive stages of the task, and setting objectives for each stage. I then discussed them with my supervisor and amended a couple following her advice.
To my great satisfaction, the Ministry wasted no time and just two months later, on 27th September 2005, the Cabinet of the Government of Belize accepted the national policy and recommended its implementation."
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If you are interested in doing a Placement similar to this one, contact us quoting Case Study Reference: Belize Policy drafting (B. Cooper)
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