Blog

This is a reflective time for the A2ii team. Around this time of the year, we gather to look ahead to our next year’s work plan. We discuss supervisory needs, policy developments and innovations around the world. This year, however, discussions have been anything but ordinary. We have been confronted with the challenge of framing the planning for 2021 in light of the global pandemic and considering different playout scenarios.

To flatten the curve of Covid-19 and save lives, countries have widely accepted social distancing, setting off the slowdown of economic activity worldwide. Where remote work is not an option, reduced contact measures mean reduced earnings. For populations of low-and-middle-income countries, the cost of social distancing is proving higher than for those in developed countries.

In 2019, two supervisors from Belize were among those chosen by the A2ii to receive a scholarship to attend the program: Alma D. Gomez (senior official) and Alicia Leslie (a high-potential woman leader). The following is an interview with Ms Gomez, who is the Supervisor of Insurance and Pensions at the Office of the Supervisor of Insurance & Private Pensions (OSIPP) of Belize.