Honduras Social Expenditures and Institutional Review

World Bank

Honduras Social Expenditures and Institutional Review

Autores

World Bank

Editor

Washington, DC

Descripción

Honduras has experienced moderate economic growth in the past decade, in line with the rest of the region. Despite this growth track record, limited opportunities for decent jobs for the majority of workers have resulted in stagnant poverty and inequality rates that are still the highest in Central America (CA). In parallel, progress in human development indicators has also been mixed in the last decade. In education, while primary enrollment has significantly increased, low coverage at all other levels of education, inequalities in access and low quality persist. In health, Honduras is close to achieving the 2015 child mortality Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but maternal mortality, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and violence pose additional challenges. And despite advances in setting up a social protection system, fiscal sustainability and lack of coordination among interventions prevail, undermining poverty reduction efforts. The ability of the Honduras government to expand safety nets, to increase the access and quality of public education and health services, to engage in active labor market policies, and to improve human development indicators in general, remains limited for a number of reasons. First, overall real social public spending has been on the decline in the last few years. Second, low revenues and fiscal deterioration pose challenges to adequately financing needed social sector improvements. Third, challenges in budget formulation and execution (mainly due to institutional factors) also diminish the impact of social spending. But more importantly, Honduras needs to significantly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its social spending. This note argues that moving forward Honduras should prioritize three main aspects: a) to rationalize and increase the effectiveness of social public spending by enhancing the pro-poor features of targeting mechanisms; b) to significantly redress the imbalance between recurrent spending, especially the wage bill, and capital expenditure; and c) to continue strengthening information systems tools, legislation, and institutions in an effort to consolidate programs into fewer and higher impact interventions.

Palabras clave

ACCESS TO EDUCATION, ACCESS TO SECONDARY EDUCATION, ADULTS, AGED, ALCOHOL ABUSE, ATTENDANCE RATE, ATTENDANCE RATES, AVERAGE TEACHER SALARIES, BASIC EDUCATION, CANCER, CHILD MORTALITY, CHRONIC MALNUTRITION, CITIZEN, CLASS TIME, CLASSROOM, CLASSROOMS, CLINICS, COMMUNICABLE DISEASES, COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION, COMPLETION RATES, COMPULSORY EDUCATION, CRIME, CURRICULA, DIABETES, DISABILITY, DROPOUT, DROPOUT RATES, DRUGS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, EDUCATION EXPENDITURES, EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, EDUCATION STATISTICS, EDUCATION STRATEGY, EDUCATION SYSTEM, EDUCATION SYSTEMS, EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EDUCATIONAL DECENTRALIZATION, EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATIONAL EXPENDITURES, EDUCATIONAL LEVELS, EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES, EDUCATIONAL QUALITY, EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, ELDERLY, ENROLLMENT RATES, EQUITABLE EDUCATION, EXERCISES, FAMILIES, FAMILY CARE, GENDER GAP, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, GROSS ENROLLMENT, GROSS ENROLLMENT RATE, HEALTH FACILITIES, HEALTH INDICATORS, HEALTH INSURANCE, HEALTH PROMOTION, HEALTH PROVIDERS, HEALTH SECTOR, HEALTH SERVICES, HEALTH SYSTEM, HEALTH WORKERS, HIGH SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION, HIGHER EDUCATION, HIV, HOSPITAL, HOSPITAL BEDS, HOSPITALS, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS, IMMUNIZATION, IMMUNIZATIONS, IMMUNODEFICIENCY, INCOME INEQUALITY, INFANT, INFANT MORTALITY, INFANT MORTALITY RATES, INFORMATION SYSTEM, INFORMATION SYSTEMS, INJURIES, INSTRUCTIONAL TIME, JOB TRAINING, LABOR FORCE, LABOR MARKET, LAWS, LEARNING, LEARNING ACTIVITIES, LEARNING OUTCOMES, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LITERACY, LITERACY PROGRAMS, LITERACY RATE, LITERACY SURVEY, LIVING CONDITIONS, LOWER SECONDARY EDUCATION, MANDATES, MATERNAL MORTALITY, MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE, MATERNAL MORTALITY RATES, MEASLES, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, MINISTRY OF HEALTH, MORTALITY, MORTALITY RATE, NATIONAL ASSESSMENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION, NATIONAL EDUCATION COUNCIL, NATIONAL EDUCATION SYSTEM, NATIONAL GOALS, NATIONAL PLAN, NATIONAL PRIORITIES, NEEDS ASSESSMENT, NET ENROLLMENT, NET ENROLLMENT RATE, NON-FORMAL EDUCATION, NUMERACY, NUTRITION, NUTRITION INDICATORS, OLD-AGE, PENSIONS, POLITICAL TURMOIL, POOR FAMILIES, POPULATION DENSITY, POPULATION GROUPS, POPULATION GROWTH, PREGNANT WOMEN, PRENATAL CARE, PRIMARY COMPLETION, PRIMARY COMPLETION RATE, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRIMARY ENROLLMENT, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIVATE EDUCATION, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, PROGRESS, PUBLIC EDUCATION, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC HOSPITALS, PUBLIC SCHOOL, PUPIL-TEACHER RATIO, PURCHASING POWER, QUALITY OF EDUCATION, READING, RESOURCE ALLOCATION, RESPECT, RETURNS TO EDUCATION, RURAL AREAS, RURAL POPULATION, RURAL SCHOOL, RURAL SCHOOLS, SAFETY NETS, SANITATION, SANITATION FACILITIES, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, SCHOOL CALENDAR, SCHOOL CHILDREN, SCHOOL DAYS, SCHOOL EDUCATION, SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, SCHOOL ENROLLMENTS, SCHOOL MEALS, SCHOOL NETWORKS, SCHOOL TEACHER, SCHOOL YEAR, SCHOOLING, SCIENCE STUDY, SECOND LANGUAGE, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SECONDARY SCHOOLS, SERVICE PROVISION, SERVICE QUALITY, SERVICE TRAINING, SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL POLICY, SOCIAL SECTOR, SOCIAL SECTORS, SOCIAL SECURITY, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO, TEACHER, TEACHER PERFORMANCE, TEACHER RATIOS, TEACHER SALARIES, TEACHER SHORTAGES, TEACHER TRAINING, TEACHER UNIONS, TEACHERS, TEACHING, TERTIARY EDUCATION, TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES, UNEMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, UNFPA, UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND, UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION, URBAN AREAS, URBAN POPULATIONS, URBANIZATION, VIOLENCE, VOCATIONAL TRAINING, VULNERABILITY, VULNERABLE GROUPS, WORKERS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION