Honduras Design Report 2018-2020

Honduras’s fourth action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... was developed in a complex environment, and it was marked by a series of protests against the general election results. However, the Government of Honduras and the Technical Committee conducted a broad consultation process in at least 50% of the country’s cities. This was the first plan that engaged the legislature and judiciaryWhile a majority of open government reforms occur within the executive branch, OGP members are increasingly taking on commitments to increase the openness of the judicial branch. Technical specificati..., as well as the private sectorGovernments are working to open private sector practices as well — including through beneficial ownership transparency, open contracting, and regulating environmental standards. Technical specificat... More. The IRM researcher recommends strengthening the binding mandate to secure sustainability of the open government process in Honduras throughout government transitions.

Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) is a voluntary initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... conducts yearly assessments of each OGP member’s activities to ensure that governments comply with their commitments. Honduras joined OGP in 2011and has since implemented three action plans. This report assesses the design of the country’s fourth action plan.

Overview of the action plan

During the design phase of the action plan, Honduras was facing the consequences of political instability resulting from the recent general electoral process. The results created uncertainty and the public security forces suppressed over 300 protests, resulting in the death of 30 Honduran citizens and many injured and arrested.

The Government of Honduras and the Technical Committee (CTS in Spanish) conducted a broad, participative process in 9 of the 18 cities of the country. The multi-stakeholder process – CTS – was formed through a free, democratic election, but with weak participation from civil society. The result was a plan that includes follow up on previous commitments and that failed to incorporate the country’s social and political delicate context.

The plan is focused on public integrity; efficient and effective use of public resources; improved public services; safe communities and corporate responsibility; and accountability. This is the first-ever plan to engage the judiciary and legislature, and that includes a commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... that is a direct responsibility of the private sector.

Table 2. Noteworthy commitments

Recommendations

The IRM recommendations aim to inform the design of the upcoming action plan and guide the implementation of the current plan.

Table 3. Five KEY recommendations