Local government in Belize is governed by the Belize and Belmopan City Councils Act (1999), the Village Councils Act (1999) and the Inferior Courts Act 2003. A recent 2009 local governance reform policy to improve the efficiency and transparency of local government, also proposes that local government should be enshrined in the national constitution. The country is divided into 6 districts with a further division into 31 constituencies for administrative purposes. Villages (181) in addition to city councils of which there are two (Belmopan and Belize City), Town Councils (7), community councils (12). Also the traditional alcalde system operates in Toledo and parts of South Belize, which provides for the self-government of a few remaining native villages. The alcalde system completes the subdivisions of local government in Belize. Local elections were held most recently in 2009 and councilors are elected for a period of 3 years making them due again in 2012. The councils appoint a local administrator who assists the mayor (who is elected directly) in the day to day management of the locality.
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From 1999 onwards Belize has been committed to strengthening local government firstly by identifying the different types of local authorities through acts such as the city-, village- and town council act thereby legalizing their institutional positions and determining obligations in fields such as education, basic healthcare and water supply. Cities such as Belize City and the capital of Belize, Belmopan have greater capacities and are allocated with more responsibilities and autonomy. The acts also connect local government to national government, for example; the village council act created the requirement for districts to have a District Association of Village Councils (DAVCO) in each of Belize’s six districts nationally forming the National Association of Village Councils
(NAVCO) which provides the national government with advice and local feedback on their policies. The approval of the National Policy on Local Governance in 2009 finalized these far-reaching steps towards more decentralization by embedding local government into the Belizean Constitution.
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The institutionalization and legalization of local government has enabled local authorities as well as the national government to develop localities in a comprehensive manner. For example the Ministry of Labour, Local Government and Rural Development and the local authorities of Belize City and Belmopan have participated in an international conference on the empowerment of local economies. At the national level the government provides information seminars on public service management and overall poverty reduction
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