Religious Community Urges Belizeans to Participate in Constitution Reform Education Campaign

Belize’s religious community is urging all Belizeans to get involved in the People’s Constitution Commission (PCCs) education and consultation campaign. The PCC launched the campaign last week to inform Belizeans on the efforts underway to reform Belize’s Constitution. The Belize Council of Churches, the National Evangelical Association of Belize and the People’s Constitution Commission then launched the first in a series of lectures focused on the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution and the importance of the reform process. The churches note that despite being held at nine in the morning on a weekday, almost five hundred people attended the lecture. Keynote speaker at the lecture, Professor Robert Destro of Columbus School of Law and former US Government Secretary of State for Human Rights, also encouraged Belizeans to learn as much as they can about the constitution. Destro, who prepared the summary guidebook to the constitution being disseminated by the PCC during their campaign, said that the preamble of Belize’s constitution was one of the most impressive pieces of statecraft that he had seen. The PCC was formed in November 2022 and is expected to conclude its education campaign in May 2024 after which, they will present recommendations for constitutional reform to the Government of Belize. Anthony Chanona, Chairman of the PCC, said that ninety-eight percent of Belizeans have not read the constitution and that the Commission is aiming at reducing the percentage to at least fifty by the end of the campaign.