Prime Minister Dean Barrow is ending his 36 year continuous term as a parliamentarian, and very soon step down as the first three term Prime Minister in post-independent Belize.
And as he leaves public life, his wife, Kim Simplis Barrow, will also join him. Back in 2008, She was chosen by the Ministry of Human Development as Special Envoy for Women and Children. The story goes that her background with the Lifeline Foundation, made her an ideal candidate to advocate for the rights of women and girls, as well as other human rights causes.
And while her detractors number more than a few, in her 13 years as the Special Envoy, she does have signal accomplishments including the creation of the Inspiration Center, which provides services to special needs children and she is also directly connected to the construction of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the KHMH
Today, she officially stepped down from the office of Special Envoy and took a victory lap with a virtual ceremony reflecting on a few of her accomplishments.
After the official farewell, she gave an interview discussing a few of her highlights as Special Envoy:
Kim Simplis Barrow - Stepping Down as Special Envoy
"Well you know we've been planning for this day for a while now, we know that this would be it for my husband at least and therefore my appointment came because he is my husband, I knew that we had to set a date and today is that date. For me I'm feeling, it's an emotional day of course but I'm thankful, I'm grateful because when I look back and I look back at the video I realise that I wasn't alone during this journey, that I had so many partners and so many people rallying for me and many times when I felt like people were being unfair, that fuel me even more, gave me even more energy to get out and do what it is that I wanted to do."
Daniel Ortiz
"Talk to us about some of the things that you would hope that even your biggest critics would appreciate from the volume of work that you've done for promotion of women and children?"
Kim Simplis Barrow
"Well you know every time people ask me, what are the projects that you're most proud of, I have to say when you think about the Inspiration Center and the Neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit at the KHMH, those two infrastructural projects are there for all people, people from all walks of life can go there and get the access that they need. I think and I will say this because I think it's important, my office has always remained above politics, we have always tried to whatever we're doing, we're doing for all women, we're doing for all children and going into these homes and meeting these children with disabilities and the hopelessness that families, the moms and the dads felt because they couldn't access health services. Those were the moments, those were the children, those were the families that really inspired me to do the inspiration center." A 288-page book has been published which details those 13 years that Barrow spent as Special Envoy.
