Editorial: Contemporary Human Rights Challenges in Belize

Abstract

Human rights are the rights and freedoms to which all individuals are entitled by virtue of being human (Skarstad, 2024). They are a country’s measure of its protection of its citizens in terms of basic freedoms, including “freedom of expression, religion, assembly, and association and the fair and equal

access to education, employment, housing, health care, and other vital necessities of life” (Moore, 2007, p. 200). In 2025, the University of Belize received a three-year grant to execute a 95% European Union funded project entitled Strengthening Human Rights Advocacy Among Youth in Belize Through Academic Research, Capacity Building, and Human Rights Education.  This special issue actualizes one of the outputs of that project because it increases the availability of evidence-based data on human rights in Belize.