Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (2001-2015).

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper is a multi-sectoral strategy applicable at the national level and covering the period 2001-2015. The fundamental objective of the Strategy is to reduce poverty significantly and sustainably, based on accelerated and sustained economic growth whose benefits are distributed more equitably. The Government of Honduras will seek to work on the following six strategic areas to achieve the Strategy’s objective: 1) accelerating equitable and sustainable economic growth; 2) reducing poverty in rural areas; 3) reducing urban poverty; 4) investing in human capital; 5) strengthening social protection for specific groups; and 6) guaranteeing the sustainability of the strategy. The Strategy prioritizes on interventions on groups and sectors with the greatest social vulnerability. Within the poorest departments, special attention will be given to groups living in rural areas
The eradication of hunger and poverty is one of the main goals of the Strategy. The focus will be on areas where there is a greater concentration of poverty (southern and western departments and rural areas of the central zone, as well as marginal neighborhoods). Also targeted will be other groups that have high probabilities of being in poverty (households with many children, households whose heads are women, the very young or senior citizens, and ethnic groups that lack opportunities). The Strategy further seeks to decrease malnutrition in children under five. To this end, the government will implement programmes providing food vouchers and attention to pregnant women need to be expanded and strengthened; the importance of breastfeeding will be promoted; and food and nutrition monitoring systems will be put in place in urban and rural health centres to permit early warning and on time corrective measures
The Government of Honduras will implement a strategy for sustainable development, in order to recover the loss of environmental resources. In this respect, a land use law, a new forest law and risk management law will be approved. At the local level, the majority of municipalities will include environmental protection and water management in their municipal action plans. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will strengthen its regulatory, planning and management capacities, and the coordination among the various public, private and local entities active in the sector. In addition, the government will support the development of commercial forest plantations; enlarge the primary forest industry; expand and develop the secondary-forest industry; establish a programme to attract foreign investment to the forestry sector; and expand training programmes for poor groups living in forest areas, to promote sustainable development of small agro-forestry enterprises.
The Government of Honduras to reduce poverty in rural areas of the country will improve equity and security in access to land on behalf of organized and independent small farmers and indigenous people, thus allowing income improvement and food security for rural families; promote sustainable development in high-priority areas, under mechanisms that guarantee participation of local governments and communities; improve the competitiveness of the small rural economy, in order to increase production and improve the efficiency and competitiveness of small rural producers, by facilitating access to infrastructure and to support services in markets, technology and financing; and improve social conditions in rural areas, in order to strengthen social infrastructure and increase coverage of poverty reduction programmes in rural areas that are most depressed and have the greatest incidence of poverty.
The Government of Honduras will seek to improve competitive access to international markets for national products, and to develop sectors with high productive potential (agribusiness, forest products, light assembly and tourism). It will also establish co-management arrangements or concessions to local organizations for managing activities such as eco-tourism, research on biodiversity and its potential, and forestry and agro-forestry projects in buffer zones. Additionally, it will foster alliances between small producers and large enterprises under the contract farming model, as well as marketing networks to solve organizational and marketing problems inherent in the production and export of fresh products.
The Strategy proposes measures directed at strengthening risk management, by improving the legal, institutional and planning framework and utilizing the instruments needed to improve the coordinating and normative functions of the institutions linked to disaster prevention, mitigation and awareness. Likewise, measures are proposed to encourage citizen participation in disaster prevention, mitigation and awareness. Information system for disaster mitigation will be developed, as well as the capacity, at the central and local level, to monitor environmental indicators and provide early warning of impending natural disasters. In addition, the Strategy will promote the implementation of actions and projects that permit the certified reduction of emissions; promote the development and application of technologies, that respond to climate change; develop the Carbon Fund to promote community actions to mitigate climate change; and provide information on carbon markets.
The organizational structure for the implementationand follow-up of the Strategy integrates a diversity of public agencies, grass-roots organizations, municipalities, NGOs, the private sector and donors, all with their own operational procedures. In particular, the Strategy will consolidate governance, guaranteeing the transparency of public administration by strengthening government auditing agencies and social audits, and by improving the quality of the political representation of the people