Cooperative Department

Vision

Empowering people through the transfer of knowledge, the promotion of collective participation, and the furtherance of self-sufficiency for the socio economic development of Belize.

Mission

To conduct regulatory services that conform to established standards and provide dynamic and proficient entrepreneurial development programs that are responsive to the increasing human resource, financial, and technical needs of the co-operative sector in Belize.

Events

Activities

Some of the activities performed by the department are as follows:

REGULATORY

  • Train, qualify, and certify co-operative enterprises;
  • Registration and liquidation of co-operative enterprises;
  • Maintain records on and of co-operative enterprises;
  • Check, inspect, and audit finances and financial records;
  • Settle disputes within and between co-operative enterprises

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

  • Provide enterprise development and other capacity building programs.
  • Urge groups to meet regularly. Frequent meetings are desirable especially during the early learning stage and we stress the need for regular attendance.
  • Assist groups in setting realistic objectives. Group members must reach consensus on what will be done, by whom and by when.
  • Help the group choose a name for itself and even assist with logo design. Names/brands are important. They help build a group’s identity and promote member solidarity.
  • Discuss goals and expectations. We remind people that the advantages of group action are realized through hard work, self-sacrifice and a clear focus on realistic group objectives.
  • Work with members to identify their problems and prioritize them and help them assess their group self-help capacities, their strengths and resources for solving those problems.
  • Assess all the benefits and costs of cooperation. Ask the people what they will gain from participation and what will it cost in terms of self-sacrifice. Do all the benefits outweigh all the costs.
  • Highlight the importance of member contributions. Regular group dues, fees, and savings are essential for the sustainability of the organization. Moreover, member contributions to group activities help build a sense of group ownership and solidarity.
  • Focus on individual profitability. Group action must make economic sense to each individual. Individual incomes earned through the group should exceed expenses.
  • Provide training programs through a structured and ever expanding curriculum aimed at meeting the capacity challenges of small and grassroots entrepreneurs.
  • Promote groups that are voluntary and democratic. Members should decide through majority vote, or consensus, who joins the group, who will lead them, what rules to follow, and what activities they will undertake. And most importantly;
  • Foster transparency and accountability by conducting audits and inspections to recognized standards and make recommendations for enterprise viability and sustainability.
  • Audits and inspections of registered enterprises.
  • Revision of laws and regulations.
  • Organizing and participating in marketing and promotional events.

Contact Information

Telephone: 822-2241/828-5100
Email: info@blzcoopsdept@gmail.com
facebook.com/belizedeptofcooperatives