Belize

Children and Childbearing

Belizean children between the ages of 6 and 14 must attend school. Belize has four colleges, but many students who seek career advancement must move to other English-speaking countries.

The vast majority of women rarely get Pap smears, which are done for a fee of $10 belize dollars at the Belize Family Life Association (BFLA)—but the fee is often waived. Abortion is illegal in Belize and thus not publicly financed. Many services such as magnet resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear medicine simply are not available in Belize. Caesarean sections are performed very rarely: only if the baby has a transverse presentation, if the mother becomes eclamptic, or on a few other rare occasions when it is determined that the mother's life is at risk (it is not done for breech presentations or labor that fails to progress).

The impetus for Plenty International's Belize midwifery project grew out of Kek'chi and Mopan Maya people in the Toledo District. Spread out over approximately 48 rural villages, the Maya in [Page 110]this district have the poorest health indicators of any population in Belize. Mayan infants (birth-3 months) have a 45–55 percent mortality rate, which is about five times higher than that of the United States. A high percentage of Mayan women are anemic, which puts them and their unborn babies at risk during pregnancy and childbirth, and a high number of Mayan children suffer growth retardation due to malnutrition.

The majority of Mayan women birth their babies at home, and many of Toledo's rural villages are several hours' drive from the local hospital; transportation and communication systems are generally poor. The midwifery project helps train rural village women to assist their neighbors during pregnancy and childbirth and to provide emergency backup support.

Agencies and Education

The Department of Women's Affairs and the National Women's Commission are among the key government agencies promoting the advancement of women in Belize. While the Belize constitution guarantees equality between men and women and defines discrimination, there are no acts that specifically define discrimination against women. Young women secure just over half of the available places in secondary schools, by virtue of selection based on academic merit. Women continue to be under-represented in employment, especially skilled and professional positions more likely to deliver income equality. To date, the government has not pursued affirmative action provisions, especially for achieving improved gender equality in the labor force.