CoST Honduras (Member from 2014 to 2024)

Honduras joined CoST mid year in 2014 and it was one of the most successful members, leading the implementation of CoST tools and standards in the Latin American region.

Prior to CoST: Public infrastructure in context

According to Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index, in 2020 Honduras was ranked 157 out of 198 countries, with a score of 24 /100.

The main weaknesses in infrastructure governance in Honduras related to a lack of trust in the legal framework and a lack of technological and human resources within procuring entities. There is also a lack of dialogue between the institutions that generate data and those using it.

In 2014, CoST carried out a Scoping Study in Honduras to gain insight into the public infrastructure sector. The Scoping Study assessed levels of data publication in line with the CoST Infrastructure Data Standard (CoST IDS), which requires 40 data points or ‘items’ to be published across the infrastructure project cycle. While 92% of these data points were available on request, there were significant limitations to accessibility: only 67% of these were published on each procuring entity’s website and only 27% were published on the country’s data portals.

As part of efforts to strengthen transparency, the Government of Honduras joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in 2011 and presented its first and second OGP National Action Plans in August 2012 and June 2014 respectively.

CoST Honduras: How it all began

In 2014, after submitting a successful application to the CoST International Secretariat, a launch event convened representatives from across government, civil society, academia, media and the public who heard from President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández alongside CoST Executive Director, Petter Matthews.

An array of actors from across government were involved in the implementation of CoST, including the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Services, the Presidential Directorate of Transparency, Modernisation and State Reform and the Presidential Office of Project Monitoring.

Multi-stakeholder working

CoST brings together stakeholder groups with different perspectives and backgrounds from across government, private sector and civil society. Through each national programme’s multi-stakeholder group (MSG), these entities can guide the delivery of CoST and pursue infrastructure transparency and accountability within a neutral forum. 

The CoST Honduras MSG was composed of nine members who guided the programme during 10 years, with representatives from government bodies, civil society organisations and the private sector.

Publication of data (disclosure)

The data publication process ensures that key infrastructure project data such as the purpose, scope, costs and implementation of infrastructure projects is published in a timely manner. 

CoST Honduras made a significant impact in promoting greater transparency in the contracting and implementation stages of infrastructure projects. From 2015 to 2019 the rate of data published proactively (data published without official request) increased substantially from 27% up to to 75%.

Online portals: Empowering citizens through access to information

CoST Honduras supported the Government to create and develop SISOCS – a subsystem of the national procurement portal, which allowed for the publication of project information online. Launched in 2015, the portal empowered citizens by providing them with instant access to key information on their local public infrastructure projects. When SISOCS was launched in 2014, only 13 projects from one procuring entity was published on it. As of September 2021, there were 2038 projects published by 9 main procuring entities, with a total value of over US$ 1.1 billion.

CoST Honduras leads the way with PPP

CoST Honduras became the first country to apply CoST data publication methods to public-private partnerships (PPPs) when it launched SISOCS PPP in conjunction with the World Bank and the Government in April 2018. Information published on high value PPPs on SISOCS APP included the $139m Palmerola International Airport and a $1.1bn container and cargo terminal at Puerto Cortés. This marked an important step towards establishing a culture of transparency in PPP projects of significant value. As of September 2021, data on 21 infrastructure projects was on SISOCS PPP, representing a total amount of US$ 1.46 billion.

To catalyse more impact in PPP infrastructure projects, the CoST International Secretariat published the open source code of SISOCS-APP in our CoST GitHub Repository so it can be adapted and used by CoST members and others.

As mentioned CoST Honduras has taken the initiative in data publication on PPP infrastructure projects, being the first CoST member to include PPPs in its assurance process in 2017. Later in 2019 its sixth assurance process focused exclusively on PPP projects which came to a collective value of US $277 million and revealed an average disclosure rate of 68.2% of the CoST IDS.

Institutionalising the CoST approach through executive decree

Just five months after the initiative was launched, the Government took another key step in its journey towards open and accountable infrastructure. In January 2015 following sustained efforts from CoST Champion, Roberto Ordóñez, the Government issued an Executive Decree mandating the disclosure of infrastructure project data across the country.

The Executive Decree requires procuring entities to proactively disclose all 40 data points of the CoST IDS as well as an additional 31 data items related to infrastructure projects via SISOCS. This has played a key role in institutionalising attitudes towards disclosure: by the time CoST Honduras launched its First Assurance Report in May 2015, proactive disclosure levels stood at an impressive 84% of the CoST IDS.

Independent review of data (assurance)

CoST promotes accountability through the CoST assurance process – an independent review of the disclosed data by assurance teams appointment by CoST national programmes. The teams turn the data into compelling information so that it can be easily understood by citizens. 

CoST Honduras undertook eight indepedent review processes which evaluated around 100  public infrastructure projects in total, with the most recent reports published in December 2021.

The first three independent review processes found key issues at the Honduras Road Fund, the government body responsible for maintenance of Honduras’s road network. Recommendations from these independent reviews led to concrete actions by the Government of Honduras which ultimately shut down the Road Fund for a lack of transparency and created a new, transparent body in its place.

Social accountability

The social accountability feature of CoST ensures that information on public infrastructure projects is put in the public domain. CoST works with stakeholders such as civil society and the media to promote the findings of the assurance process to help to hold decision makers to account.

Building capacity across society 

To see support the data publication process, CoST Honduras developed a training programme for procuring entities, focussing on the CoST IDS and the use and management of SISOCS.

CoST Honduras developed a diverse, wide-ranging training programme for the media, public and civil society with the aim of strengthening participation in public infrastructure. More than 600 people were trained, including students, teachers and university professionals. To bolster its training programme, CoST Honduras signed cooperation agreements with a range of influential organisations in the country covering 250 of Honduras’s 298 municipalities. These include the country’s Citizen Transparency Commissions, the Honduran Journalists Association and the Honduran Press Association

School of Social Accountability

The School of Social Accountability was created by CoST Honduras to train members of Citizen Transparency Commissions, municipal commissioners and other civil society organisations.

As of June 2021, 108 social auditors had been trained through the School and 15 audits of local, publicly funded infrastructure works had been completed. On request of the government, graduates of the School of Social Accountability worked with consultants to evaluate the levels of data publication and quality of processes around eight projects procured in the aftermath of hurricanes Eta and Iota, which hit Honduras and other countries in Central America in 2020. These projects were included in CoST Honduras’s 8th independent review process, which was published in 2022.

Transparency in Infrastructure Virtual Diploma

This online, five-week training programme was aimed at infrastructure specialist students and university professionals from across the country. The course provided a platform for CoST Honduras representatives to share their experience and knowledge of anti-corruption measures and key processes that promoted infrastructure transparency.

Engaging journalists for greater accountability

CoST Honduras developed two training programmes for journalists. The diploma of data journalism was designed to improve journalists’ ability to analyse and use infrastructure information, and CoST Honduras trained 62 journalists and social communicators through this programme.

CoST Honduras also created the CoST Honduras Journalism Prize with the objective of encouraging investigative research into public infrastructure in Honduras. The award recognised the three ‘best’ news articles related to infrastructure transparency and accountability published in national and other outlets. Alex Flores from El Mundo won first prize in 2020 for a two-part investigation – using information gleaned from combing through 400 pages of contract data – which exposed conflicts of interest in contracts awarded by the government investment body Invest-H for Covid-19 projects. Read our interview with Alex here.

International impact

The work of CoST Honduras received international recognition: in 2016 the programme came third place at the Open Government Partnership awards for its contribution to improving civic participation in public life, improving the functioning of government and creating new services. CoST Honduras also won first place at the 2019 Taiwan Presidential Hackathon after presenting the innovative platform INFRAS, an online database which supports the development of environmentally sustainable infrastructure.

CoST Tools 

CoST Infrastructure Transparency Index

Honduras was one of the first countries to implement the CoST Infrastructure Transparency Index (ITI), which measures levels of transparency and the quality of processes related to public infrastructure at national and sub-national levels. Collaboratively designed and based on international good practice, its objective is to provide stakeholders with quality information that serves to promote transparency and improve the management of public infrastructure. Honduras published initial results from ITI implementation in 2021, which can be found here.

CoST Honduras Assurance Reports

First Assurance Report
Second Assurance Report
Third Assurance Report
Fourth Assurance Report
Fifth Assurance Report
Sixth Assurance Report

End of membership

CoST Honduras became an inactive member in 2023 and a year later the membership was officially withdrawn by the CoST Board following the applicable policies.