Results around the world – Honduras
Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Americas, with over 60% of its population living in poverty. While it has made some development gains, it continues to be challenged by a lack of economic opportunities for its fast-growing youth population, violence and criminality (including high levels of gender-based violence and femicides), corruption, human rights violations, and vulnerability to climate change. The country has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the Americas.
Canada’s development program in Honduras seeks to help improve the lives of the most vulnerable segments of the population, including women, girls, and indigenous communities. In particular, it seeks to improve sexual and productive health and rights, create economic opportunities, combat corruption and respond to climate change.
Key results
Canada’s support to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)and UNICEF for the last year of implementation of the Municipal Services for Adolescent Health and HIV/AIDS in Honduras project supported 64 municipal youth programs and 41 adolescent-friendly health clinics to provide education and services related to sexual and reproductive health and rights to over 475,000 adolescents and youth. The clinics have increased the availability of contraceptive and family planning services in their communities for adolescent girls and boys.
Over its first year of implementation, the Promoting the Sexual and Reproductive Rights of Adolescents in Honduras project, implemented by UNFPA, trained more than 800 community-based workers, who in turn reached more than 29,000 adolescent girls and boys on numerous themes related to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). As a result, beneficiaries increased their knowledge and understanding of SRHR and the importance of preventing gender-based violence.
Canada is a key donor to the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH). Through the national anti-corruption system that the MACCIH helped establish, the first three high-profile corruption cases were prosecuted: a network of congressmen allegedly involved in the misappropriation of public funds; a former first lady charged with diversion of funds from social programs; and a massive embezzlement scheme involving the Honduran Institute of Social Security. All these cases emerged during the trial phase of the MACCIH project. The MACCIH also contributed to the conviction of a high-level official in the Ministry of Justice for influence-peddling, and promoted eight legal initiatives and reforms to strengthen the anti-corruption framework in Honduras.
Canada’s support to UNICEF in Honduras has helped strengthen rights-based child protection and a national juvenile justice system. At the local level, 109 municipal coordination tables on child protection have been supported, representing a third of the municipalities in the country. Some 300 children have developed their leadership capacities, with emphasis on girls’ empowerment.
In partnership with Agriteam, Canada supported the decentralization and strengthening of basic education management in seven (out of 18) departments in Honduras. This helped 90% of targeted education managers to use a community-participation approach to local education. In addition, 562 members (281 women and 281 men) of community organizations participated in education planning for municipal budgets. Greater gender awareness resulted in women’s participation being equal to that of men.
Canada’s support to the CAHOVA: Increasing Sustainable Productivity of Value-Added Agroforestry project, implemented by SOCODEVI (Société de coopération pour le développement international), contributed to increased productivity of agricultural cooperatives. Through the project, 465 women and 529 men received training on gender equality, and 204 male landowners signed a long-term agreement with their wife or child, giving them formal legal access to a piece of land to cultivate and manage, thus increasing their incomes. The project also helped women and youth establish agricultural and forestry value chains in coffee or cacao to help increase their incomes.
Results achieved by the Global Affairs-led Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership in Honduras (El Progresso) for 2017-18:
- 981 farmers (including 351 female farmers) were trained in environmentally sustainable practices, with the aim to increase coffee quality
- 123% increase in coffee yield due to good agricultural practices
- 92% increase in participation by women in household and family-business decision-making
- 480 coffee producing families adopted actions to promote a greater sharing of responsibilities between men and women in the household
Among results achieved by the World Neighbours Canada project in Honduras for 2017-18:
- 393 households have healthier home environments after having installed improved stoves
- only 2.5% of children between 6 months and 59 months of age suffer from chronic malnutrition in the project’s implementation area in Honduras, compared to 10% before the project began
