Belize Infrastructure Asset Management for Enhanced Climate Resilience

This report assessed Belize's infrastructure asset management across transport, water, and sanitation sectors, focusing on climate resilience and service delivery. As a Columbia SIPA Capstone project for UN DESA, it applied the UN DESA IAM Diagnostic Tool, across five areas: governance, data and systems, planning, budgeting, and implementation, combining desktop analysis with field interviews across government agencies, municipalities, and stakeholders in Belize.

The findings revealed a strong institutional foundation and committed public officials in Belize, with notable strengths in water services and public investment planning. However, infrastructure management is largely reactive, with limited preventive maintenance, fragmented data systems, variable lifecycle planning and significant reliance on external financing. Multiple institutions share responsibilities, local governments, particularly village councils face significant fiscal and technical constraints, hindering their ability to plan, maintain, and finance infrastructure consistently. The report identified opportunities to strengthen IAM by leveraging existing systems. Key recommendations included expanding national asset registries, improving inter-ministerial coordination, and enhancing maintenance planning into the Public Sector Investment Programme, strengthening procurement for mid-sized projects, and improving fiscal capacity at the municipal level.

This research also made the case for diversifying domestic revenue streams and deepening citizen engagement, recognizing that resilient infrastructure asset management aligns with fiscal sustainability, national development goals, community needs, and the Sustainable Development Goals. Case studies from Fiji, New York City, and Changxing County, China, showcased good practices in lifecycle planning and climate-resilient asset management that can be applied in various contexts. The opportunity cost of inaction is rising. This research suggested that Belize can convert today's structural vulnerabilities into a genuine IAM model of long-term resilience and efficiency.