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Principle 10 National Profile and Action Plan Project in Honduras

The Secretary of State of Natural Resources and the Environment of Honduras signed a Memorandum of Agreement concerning the project “Preparing a National Profile and Action Plan on the Implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration” in March of 2007.

The National Project Coordinator was Ms. Patricia Brocatto, Director of International Cooperation with Mrs. Carolina Bocanegra serving as focal point. A National Coordinating Team was established to guide and oversee the project implementation. In 2011, the SERNA continued its work on Principle 10 under the leadership of Ms. Irina H. Pineda, Director of External Cooperation and Resource Mobilization.


National Planning Workshop
A National Planning Workshop took place on 20 April 2007 in Tegucigalpa. More than 80 participants from a range of government agencies and stakeholder groups participated in the event. The workshop provided the exceptional opportunity for the government to hold a dialogue with stakeholders, concerning the challenges for participatory environmental governance.
 
National Profile Development
Honduras completed its National Profile in 2008. A revised version of the Profile was developed in 2011.
           
National Priority Setting Workshop
The National Priority Setting Workshop on Principle 10 Implementation took place on 4-5 December 2008. It was attended by 45 participants from different sectors, including ministries engaged in environmental management, the judiciary, private sector, local authorities, social movements and non-governmental organizations.
 
Workshop participants identified the following priorities:
  • Development of a national strategy to manage and disseminate environmental information, including effective provision of information at both provincial and local levels
  • Implementation of training programmes to strengthen capacities of government officials on stakeholder involvement design and implementation
  • Implementation of a training programme to strengthen institutional capacities of the judiciary (judges and prosecutors) on environmental law at sub-national and local levels
  • Strengthening legal criminal systems in order to provide effective channels and opportunities of the public to access justice
  • Strengthening capacities of the public (i.e. NGOs, local communities and indigenous groups) to: enhance knowledge about legal provisions on access to information, public participation and access to justice; participate more effectively in environmental decision-processes; and access courts when rights are infringed.
National Action Plan
The Priority Setting Workshop provided the basis for the development of a National Action Plan on Principle 10 implementation which was completed in early 2009.
 
Honduras continued the work on Principle 10 and developed a 2011-2014 National Action Plan. The new Action Plan was endorsed at a third National Environmental Governance Workshop held in Tegucigalpa on 24 March 2011. The event brought together 71 participants from 30 national organizations, including inter alia NGOs, government institutions, legal entities, development agencies, private sector organizations and universities.
 
Targeted Capacity Development Action
Taking into account the priorities and capacity needs identified through the National Action Plan, UNITAR is exploring opportunities to support selected capacity development activities.
 
Publications
All project documents are also available on our publications page, including:
  • National Planning Workshop report
  • National Profile 2008
  • National Profile 2011
  • National Priority Setting Workshop report
  • Action Plan 2009-2012
  • Third National Environmental Governance Workshop report
  • Action Plan 2011-2014 
  • Executive Summary