All amounts in U.S. dollars. Numbers in italics are estimates, usually based on the closest year for which data are available.

All amounts in U.S. dollars. Numbers in italics are estimates, usually based on the closest year for which data are available.

All amounts in U.S. dollars.

All amounts in U.S. dollars.

Document: Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Program and Budget Guide, Fiscal Year 2010

Program: International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement

Program Objectives and Performance Indicators Enhance the abilities of the Government of Honduras (GOH) law enforcement agencies to detect and intercept shipments and detain traffickers.

• Increased number of interdictions and quantity of drugs and contraband seized.
• Increased number of arrests of drug traffickers and money launderers.

• Decreased gang-related crime.

• Consistent implementation of prison management reforms and procedures.

Document: U.S. Army Leads Multinational Peacekeeping Exercise in Guatemala

Program: Exercises

The U.S. Army is working hand-in-hand with the Central American Armed Forces Conference to enhance stability and cooperation throughout the region with their annual Peace Keeping Operations Exercise here.

The current three-week-long exercise consists of various training venues and culminates with a final command-post exercise Aug. 15-17 where students will get a chance to put into practice all the information and skills they learned during the annual Peace Keeping Operations Exercise

This is the third and final phase of annual exercises designed specifically for this region.

The conference, known as CFAC, is comprised of The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras and was established approximately a decade ago.

This annual exercise equips CFAC troops with the knowledge and tools to effectively execute peacekeeping missions and respond to natural disasters, within United Nations standards, throughout the region.

During this 16-day phase, a class consisting of 86 students representing the various countries, learn everything from convoy and security operations to medical evacuation and public affairs procedures all within United Nations guidelines.

The exercise took approximately 3 months of coordination and planning and the team is already looking to plan future exercises, said Kempf. “Next year, the focus country will be Chile, and in 2011, it will be in Brazil.”

The overall goal is to enhance interoperability and improve security and cooperation of the people in the region

Document: Honduras-based U.S. Army Helicopters Deploy to Nicaragua in Support of Humanitarian Mission

Program: Humanitarian and Civic Assistance

The mission of the Joint Task Force-Bravo helicopters will be to transport patients, some from remote areas, to sites in the vicinity of Corinto to receive free medical care and surgical screenings from Comfort’s medical personnel. The helicopters are scheduled to remain in Nicaragua for the duration of the two-week mission.
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To date, the Continuing Promise teams have treated nearly 70,000 patients, provided health care education to thousands of people and immunized thousands of animals.

Document: U.S., Honduran Military Members Conduct Combined Jump Training

Program: Exercises

Nearly 200 U.S. Army and Honduran paratroopers and 10 U.S. Air Force aircrew members teamed up to complete combined jump training over the drop zone here May 16.

For the U.S. Soldiers and Airmen, it was an opportunity to train side-by-side with a partner nation and learn about their methods and procedures. For the majority of the Honduran "paracaidistas" -- or paratroopers -- the effort marked their first jump and the completion of a final prerequisite before they graduate from jump school.

Document: FY 2010 Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations

U.S. foreign assistance to Honduras focuses on partnering with the Government of Honduras to enhance security, strengthen democracy and rule of law, improve the education and health systems, increase food security, improve the management of watersheds, conserve biodiversity, and build capacity to take advantage of opportunities under the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

Peace and Security: U.S. assistance will help improve the Honduran ability to interdict the transshipment of drugs and arms, address the increase in violence fueled by the drug trade and gangs, and respond to natural disasters. Anti-crime programs will help the Honduran security sector confront gangs, drug traffickers, and other organized criminal activities. Programs also will focus on supporting the reorganization of the Honduran military structure to meet new, transnational threats; enhance the military's efforts to better control its national territory, participate in international peacekeeping operations, respond to natural disasters, and conduct search and rescue operations; and increase the military's maritime security capabilities. Funding will provide maintenance support, spare parts, training, and upgrades to assist the armed forces in maintaining a level of operational readiness allowing them to project a secure presence in remote areas. This will complement efforts to counter the threat represented by the transshipment of drugs, arms, and people and enable a more effective response to natural disasters. Training will also be geared toward professional law enforcement and military education to improve civilian-military relations and regional integration and stability. Training will help reinforce the notion of civilian control of the military and promote human rights.

Governing Justly and Democratically: U.S. assistance will help improve key municipal services in up to 35 service delivery areas through strengthened management and oversight; engagement with civil society; and, partnership with national level institutions. The United States will target those services that are widely used in order to demonstrate the benefits of the decentralization of authority and resources. This will pave the way for the decentralization of other services and improve Honduran democracy by increasing citizen satisfaction with democratic government. Civil society will participate in the oversight of local service providers to ensure that services are responsive to citizens' needs, while local governments will develop mechanisms to solicit citizen participation and feedback on the performance of these service providers. At the national level, U.S. resources will support advocacy for decentralization policies, laws, budgetary structures, and frameworks. To promote rule of law through audit and accountability, U.S. assistance will help key Honduran agencies and non-governmental partners improve oversight, audit, and watchdog functions. The United States will also work with stakeholder coalitions and legal professional associations to further key rule of law and anticorruption reforms, including the Civil Procedures Code and Transparency Law. These coalitions and associations will also promote accountability and build internal demand for change in the rule of law sector. These activities will complement those expected to be carried out under the Merida Initiative, including activities targeted towards communities that are vulnerable to crime.

According to the most recent America Barometers survey, Honduras has the lowest level of public support for democracy of the 22 countries surveyed in the Americas as well as a low rate of public participation in 619 governance. However, Honduran civil society has advocated successfully for key reforms in various sectors, including elections, the selection of high government officials, and freedom of information. U.S. assistance will continue support for reforms and implementation of current laws that are critical for the democratic development of Honduras. This support will further promote partnership between civil society and government at both the national and local level. At the national level, this will include implementation of the Civil Procedure Code, Transparency Law and Nongovernmental Organization Law as well as improvements to the elections system. At the local level, U.S. assistance will help reinforce civil society efforts to oversee the allocation and management of public funds, increase access to public information, and improve the quality of local services.

After years of direct support to the judicial sector in Honduras, commitment to reform and full implementation of laws remains weak. In recent years, assistance has been instrumental in the development of new criminal and civil procedure codes, which are expected to lead to a restructuring of the justice system in Honduras. After greatly reduced funding in the Rule of Law and Human Rights program area in FYs 2008 and 2009, increased funds in FY 2010 for this program area will allow rebuilding for this program with new activities whose targets have yet to be defined. In FY 2010, the United States will advocate for legal reform and full implementation of existing laws (including the Civil Procedure Code and Transparency Law); increase support to Honduran civil society organizations that promote ethical standards among lawyers, judges, and prosecutors; and monitor the effectiveness of courts and other justice sector institutions. These efforts would help attack the current inertia in the Honduran judicial sector, build demand for full implementation of already adopted reforms and existing legal framework, and pave the way for future reforms.

In FY 2010, U.S. assistance will continue to support decentralization by concentrating its efforts at the local level. U.S. assistance directly supports local governments to increase transparency, partner with local civil society, and efficiently handle decentralized resources and authority. Increased numbers of local mechanisms supported by U.S. assistance to engage in local governments improves citizen engagement in local decisionmaking and social auditing, both key in promoting responsive governance from local authorities. Funds will foster advocacy for needed reforms to strengthen municipal autonomy through the Honduran Municipal Association. Additionally, the United States will also provide support for the transition in local governments following the 2009 municipal elections.

Investing in People: The United States will support the decentralization and improvement of the education and health systems. U.S. assistance under the Basic Education component of the President's Initiative to Expand Education (PIEE/BE) will measurably improve early grade competencies such as literacy, numeracy, arithmetic, and other basic skills. Emphasis will remain on improving the quality of teacher training, dramatically increasing the quantity of appropriate learning materials to the world's neediest, and monitoring and evaluating progress of the programs. The 2010 request for the PIEE countries may not include final funding for PIEE/BE. Final allocations of PIEE funds will be made at the time that the FY 2010 operating year budget is set, when more detailed background information is available. The goal is to reduce failure and repetition rates and increase student achievement. With more children graduating from primary school, serious problems in post-primary education must also be addressed. At the post-primary level of basic education, the United States will support work with the Honduran Ministry of Education to implement academic standards and achievement testing for grades 7-12. Innovative strategies will be introduced to improve the quality of post-primary and alternative education systems to prepare a better-educated and more competitive work force. The goal is that by 2015 all children will complete preschool and primary education, middle school enrollment will reach 70 percent, high school enrollments will increase, and Honduras will have updated, more relevant, and flexible post-primary and technical training programs.

In the health sector, U.S. assistance will support HIV prevention and surveillance, improvement in the quality of HIV/AIDS care, and strengthening of local institutional capacity for more effective programs. U.S. assistance will also support improved and expanded maternal and child health activities and accelerated decentralization of the national health system, including assisting the Ministry of Health to manage a decentralized system during the transition to newly elected national and local governments. Finally, U.S. programs will continue to expand access to high-quality, voluntary family planning services and information and sustainable reproductive health care. As part of the strategy to phase out family planning assistance by 2012, the United States will enhance Government of Honduras and private sector capacity to build on the substantial gains in family planning attained with previous U.S. assistance, including strengthening 621 contraceptive procurement systems and supporting the widespread commercial availability of contraceptives.

This indicator is also the main indicator for the Education for All-Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI), in which the United States is one of the leading donors. It is related to higher-level indicators for improvements in the efficiency and quality of education, with all children completing primary school by the year 2015. The U.S. has set a target of increasing the primary education completion rate by 2.5 percent, from 86.5 percent in FY 2008 to 89 percent in FY 2010. The baseline data for Honduras for the 1999 school year was 69 percent of the children completing primary school. It was no small achievement to increase the primary school graduation rate to 86.5 percent by FY 2008. The closer Honduras comes to 90 percent of children completing primary school, the more challenging it will become to continue improving completion rates. The additional FY 2010 funds will help the Government of Honduras achieve that target.

Economic Growth: Under the new Food Security Initiative, the United States will provide technical assistance to help small farmers reduce food insecurity. U.S. assistance will increase incomes and reduce vulnerabilities in some of the poorest areas of Honduras by improving productivity in basic grains, diversifying farmers into higher value crops and integrating farmers into new market opportunities. Programs will increase private investment in the agricultural sector and help farmers to compete in global markets and help Honduras manage its natural resources, watersheds, and tropical forests while conserving biodiversity and reducing pollution and vulnerability to natural disasters. U.S. assistance will also support more competitive and open markets by assisting Honduras to take advantage of CAFTA-DR through key trade and investment policy reforms and public/private-sector alliances to integrate small and medium enterprises into emerging markets with rural linkages (i.e., tourism, food processing, forestry and agriculture).

Under the new Food Security Initiative, in FY 2010 the U.S. will help small farmers reduce food insecurity resulting from climate change, input price increases, sale price volatility, and low yielding agricultural practices. The U.S. will increase incomes and reduce vulnerabilities in some of the poorest areas of Honduras by improving productivity in basic grains, diversifying farmers into higher value crops, and integrating farmers into new local market opportunities. New (net) farmer sales is an ideal indicator to measure the success of the overall program because food security in Honduras is primarily an issue of lack of household purchasing power to access food rather than of availability of adequate food supplies. Increased farming incomes results in more food security. This new initiative will integrate the successes of both of these programs by combining the market focus of the agricultural diversification program with the focus on working with the poorest of the poor of the food security program.

This new program will put more emphasis on working with rural small and medium enterprises in the forestry, agriculture and tourism sectors in order to raise rural household incomes and employment and thereby increase access to adequate food. While most of the firm and value chain work in the agriculture and forestry sectors will be funded under the agriculture program area, the United States will utilize the Private Sector Competitiveness Program Area to support work in the tourism sector in Honduras. With the increase in funding in FY 2010, new (net) small and medium enterprise sales are expected to increase by $30 million. U.S. economic policy and institutional strengthening work will be directly linked with the private sector priorities in these specific value chains.

Linkages with the Millennium Challenge Corporation Honduras signed a $215 million, five-year Compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in 2005. The MCC program promotes agricultural diversification and the improvement of the national highway system to enhance Honduran capacity to respond to opportunities under CAFTA-DR.

Document: Sailors Bring Medical Care to Honduran Villages

Program: Humanitarian and Civic Assistance

U.S. Navy personnel from Operational Health Support Unit (OHSU) Dallas, Texas, completed two days of medical services to over 700 villagers in Agua Salada, Honduras, as part of their commitment to Beyond the Horizon 2009 – Honduras.

From March 25 to April 4, the Navy team of 32 Reserve component doctors, nurses, dentists, optometrists, pharmacists and hospital corpsmen are providing general medical care and diagnosis, dental check-ups and extractions, eye exams, prescription services and preventative care lessons to six different villages in rural Honduras.

“The main purpose of the mission for OHSU Dallas is training: deploying to an austere environment, providing care and redeploying safely,” said Lt. Cmdr. Deborah Greubel, a nurse practitioner overseeing the unit’s efforts in Honduras.

Document: Army Dentists Kick Off Beyond the Horizon Exercise

Program: Humanitarian and Civic Assistance

Eight dentists from the 808th Medical Dental Company, Fort Sheridan, Ill. [are] here to conduct a dental readiness training exercise in Comayagua, Honduras, as part of the larger Beyond the Horizon exercise taking place throughout Central America.
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The children being seen on this mission are from two schools in the Department of Comayagua - Comal Huacan Village School in Valle de Angeles and Augusto C. Coello in Flores. The Ministry of Health works with JTF-B´s MEDEL liaison officer to determine who will benefit most from the services offered through medical and dental readiness missions.

The dental mission is expected to be complete March 7. Beyond the Horizon continues through June with teams conducting medical readiness exercises as well as several engineering projects.

Document: International Narcotics Control Strategy Report

The USG encourages the GOH to use existing money laundering laws more effectively to seize and use drug trafficking-related assets. While seized asset laws are in place, the process of using them needs to be made more efficient so there is a net gain in support to counternarcotics interdiction and prosecution. The GOH needs to continue work ton new laws to close legal loopholes on precursor chemical controls, which are not as strict as those of neighboring countries. The USG supports GOH plans to improve police operations that will focus on police training reforms, including basic ethics, and its efforts to make needed improvements to police communications and investigative techniques, as well as establish human rights training. Improvements are also needed in the prison system, to include measures to dismantle criminal organizations working from within the penitentiaries. The USG is prepared to provide assistance to help the GOH achieve these goals.

For its part, the USG will provide significant support in the coming year under the Merida Initiative--a partnership between the governments of the United States, Mexico, Central America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic to confront the violent national and transnational gangs and organized criminal and narcotics trafficking organizations that plague the entire region, the activities of which spill over into the United States. The Merida Initiative will fund a variety of programs that will strengthen the institutional capabilities of participating governments by supporting efforts to investigate, sanction and prevent corruption within law enforcement agencies; facilitating the transfer of critical law enforcement investigative information within and between regional governments; and funding equipment purchases, training, community policing and economic and social development programs. Bilateral agreements with the participating governments were in the process of being negotiated and signed at the time this report was prepared.

Document: International Narcotics Control Strategy Report

Policy Initiatives. The USG's focus in Honduras is to support improved GOH intelligence gathering efforts on drug trafficking, improved information exchange capability, and police interdiction activities.

Bilateral Cooperation. In 2008, Honduras cooperated closely with the USG in investigations and operations against drug trafficking. The USG supported the Frontier Police in its interdiction efforts, crime information management, and also supported anti-corruption programs within the Ministry of Security by providing funding and logistical support to the National Police Internal Affairs Office. The USG provided assistance to the GOH to reform its police training program, as well as Coast Guard support in maritime operations planning, engineering and maintenance, and a Border Enforcement Seaport course.

Document: Section 1209 Report to Congress on Foreign-Assitance Related Programs Carried out by the Department of Defense

Program: Humanitarian and Civic Assistance

Projects support USSOUTHCOM TSC goal to shape the environment by promoting democracy, regional prosperity, and stability.