Rural Community Development Officers training Village Councils in Cayo

Photo Credit: Ministry of Rural Transformation

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: The Southern and Central Rural Community Development Officers (RCDOs) completed their first week training Village Councils within the Cayo District, said the Ministry of Rural Transformation, Community Development, Labour, and Local Government.

“The Rural Community Development Officers have the responsibility to conduct this training,” said Elsa Cardinez, Coordinator for Rural Development. Cardinez said that the Ministry of Rural Transformation is responsible for half of Belize’s population as they are responsible for 194 villages councils and communities nationwide. Right now, after the recently held village council elections, the Ministry is in the process of swearing in new village councils and training the new village council members, said Cardinez.

“This week, our RCDOs were able to put the tools and skills they learned at their Training of Trainers to use in conducting training to build capacity and educate Village Councils on their roles and responsibilities,” said the Ministry in a social media post.

According to the RCDOs after the swearing in ceremonies they conduct training of the new village council members to teach the new members how the village councils should be run for the benefit of their communities.

“After the swearing in, we provide additional guidance home and this is an ongoing process for a every village council,” said Ismer Ortega, Northern Regional Coordinator.

“We have a lot of demands from these communities, so we’ll be tackling them one by one.”

“We are now planning to meet with them frequently,” said Jaime Jiménez, Rural Community Development Officer.

“The ministry is in charge of training the village councils based on the Village Councils Act,” said RCDO Adrian Cus.

Cus said during the training they review the act and the Village Council and Water Board regulations.

“We let them know what their roles and responsibilities are as a council and of course the accountability and transparency of the financials,” Cus said.

“This is part of a plan to be able to ensure that these village councils engage their residents. We’re going to offer three training sessions,” said Cardinez.

“The first is effective communication, conflict resolution, and proposal writing. With the support of the National Association of Village Councils and the District Association of Village Councils they will be able to garner the support and the economic viability that they require to be able to develop their communities.”

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