Increasingly complex and evolving policy challenges demand greater capacity from governments seeking to effectively deliver on policy outcomes. Focusing on improving public governance, and in particular the openness and effectiveness of public institutions to deliver better policies, is therefore critical to rebuilding trust in public institutions.
Honduras faces numerous challenges, including high inequality, low trust in government, and unequal access to, and quality of, services and infrastructure. Resilience to shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate-related hazards, is low and puts the country in a vulnerable position, particularly with regards to public finances and productive sectors. Against this backdrop, improving the effectiveness of the public sector is crucial to reinforcing the social contract, fostering trust, and putting Honduras on a path toward sustainable and inclusive development.
This report aims to support the government of Honduras in the design and implementation of an ambitious public governance reform agenda. First, better strategic planning and co-ordination in the public sector is instrumental for optimising spending in a way that focuses on impact and building resilience. Second, improved monitoring and evaluation is needed to design better and more evidence-based policies, maximise the impact of spending, and strengthen accountability. Finally, supporting and reinvigorating Honduras’s open government agenda is a fundamental step towards a more transparent, accountable and participatory government.
The OECD Public Governance Review of Honduras assesses the capacity of the public sector, and in particular the centre of government, to define and steer strategic priorities across government. Based on an assessment carried out at the end-2021, it identifies structural economic and governance challenges that limit public sector performance and its capacity to deliver. Furthermore, it analyses strengths and weaknesses in how measures to increase policy co-ordination, results-based management, monitoring and evaluation, and open government are designed and implemented. The report provides recommendations to promote an inclusive and outcome-oriented approach to public governance, and, ultimately, help Honduras deliver better results for citizens.
This review contributes to the OECD‘s programme of work on public sector effectiveness and on the strategic functions of the centre of government. It also draws on the OECD’s expertise on public governance and lessons learned to mobilize the public sector towards common development goals. It was conducted by the Public Governance Directorate under the auspices of the OECD Public Governance Committee.
This report is made possible by the financial support of the European Union.
The report was approved and declassified by the Public Governance Committee on 11 January 2023 and prepared for publication by the Secretariat.