World Bank2015-04-282015-04-282014-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/21804Honduras 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.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO EDUCATIONACCESS TO SECONDARY EDUCATIONADULTSAGEDALCOHOL ABUSEATTENDANCE RATEATTENDANCE RATESAVERAGE TEACHER SALARIESBASIC EDUCATIONCANCERCHILD MORTALITYCHRONIC MALNUTRITIONCITIZENCLASS TIMECLASSROOMCLASSROOMSCLINICSCOMMUNICABLE DISEASESCOMMUNITY PARTICIPATIONCOMPLETION RATESCOMPULSORY EDUCATIONCRIMECURRICULADIABETESDISABILITYDROPOUTDROPOUT RATESDRUGSECONOMIC GROWTHEDUCATION EXPENDITURESEDUCATION INSTITUTIONSEDUCATION STATISTICSEDUCATION STRATEGYEDUCATION SYSTEMEDUCATION SYSTEMSEDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEDUCATIONAL DECENTRALIZATIONEDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENTEDUCATIONAL EXPENDITURESEDUCATIONAL LEVELSEDUCATIONAL OUTCOMESEDUCATIONAL QUALITYEDUCATIONAL SERVICESELDERLYENROLLMENT RATESEQUITABLE EDUCATIONEXERCISESFAMILIESFAMILY CAREGENDER GAPGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROSS ENROLLMENTGROSS ENROLLMENT RATEHEALTH FACILITIESHEALTH INDICATORSHEALTH INSURANCEHEALTH PROMOTIONHEALTH PROVIDERSHEALTH SECTORHEALTH SERVICESHEALTH SYSTEMHEALTH WORKERSHIGH SCHOOLHIGH SCHOOL EDUCATIONHIGHER EDUCATIONHIVHOSPITALHOSPITAL BEDSHOSPITALSHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUSIMMUNIZATIONIMMUNIZATIONSIMMUNODEFICIENCYINCOME INEQUALITYINFANTINFANT MORTALITYINFANT MORTALITY RATESINFORMATION SYSTEMINFORMATION SYSTEMSINJURIESINSTRUCTIONAL TIMEJOB TRAININGLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETLAWSLEARNINGLEARNING ACTIVITIESLEARNING OUTCOMESLEVEL OF EDUCATIONLEVELS OF EDUCATIONLITERACYLITERACY PROGRAMSLITERACY RATELITERACY SURVEYLIVING CONDITIONSLOWER SECONDARY EDUCATIONMANDATESMATERNAL MORTALITYMATERNAL MORTALITY RATEMATERNAL MORTALITY RATESMEASLESMILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALMILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALSMINISTRY OF EDUCATIONMINISTRY OF HEALTHMORTALITYMORTALITY RATENATIONAL ASSESSMENTNATIONAL EDUCATIONNATIONAL EDUCATION COUNCILNATIONAL EDUCATION SYSTEMNATIONAL GOALSNATIONAL PLANNATIONAL PRIORITIESNEEDS ASSESSMENTNET ENROLLMENTNET ENROLLMENT RATENON-FORMAL EDUCATIONNUMERACYNUTRITIONNUTRITION INDICATORSOLD-AGEPENSIONSPOLITICAL TURMOILPOOR FAMILIESPOPULATION DENSITYPOPULATION GROUPSPOPULATION GROWTHPREGNANT WOMENPRENATAL CAREPRIMARY COMPLETIONPRIMARY COMPLETION RATEPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY ENROLLMENTPRIMARY HEALTH CAREPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIVATE EDUCATIONPRIVATE SCHOOLSPROGRESSPUBLIC EDUCATIONPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATIONPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC HEALTH EXPENDITUREPUBLIC HOSPITALSPUBLIC SCHOOLPUPIL-TEACHER RATIOPURCHASING POWERQUALITY OF EDUCATIONREADINGRESOURCE ALLOCATIONRESPECTRETURNS TO EDUCATIONRURAL AREASRURAL POPULATIONRURAL SCHOOLRURAL SCHOOLSSAFETY NETSSANITATIONSANITATION FACILITIESSCHOOL ATTENDANCESCHOOL CALENDARSCHOOL CHILDRENSCHOOL DAYSSCHOOL EDUCATIONSCHOOL ENROLLMENTSCHOOL ENROLLMENTSSCHOOL MEALSSCHOOL NETWORKSSCHOOL TEACHERSCHOOL YEARSCHOOLINGSCIENCE STUDYSECOND LANGUAGESECONDARY EDUCATIONSECONDARY SCHOOLSECONDARY SCHOOLSSERVICE PROVISIONSERVICE QUALITYSERVICE TRAININGSKILLS DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL POLICYSOCIAL SECTORSOCIAL SECTORSSOCIAL SECURITYSOCIOECONOMIC STATUSSTUDENT ACHIEVEMENTSTUDENT-TEACHER RATIOTEACHERTEACHER PERFORMANCETEACHER RATIOSTEACHER SALARIESTEACHER SHORTAGESTEACHER TRAININGTEACHER UNIONSTEACHERSTEACHINGTERTIARY EDUCATIONTRAINING OPPORTUNITIESUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT RATESUNFPAUNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUNDUNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATIONURBAN AREASURBAN POPULATIONSURBANIZATIONVIOLENCEVOCATIONAL TRAININGVULNERABILITYVULNERABLE GROUPSWORKERSWORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATIONReportWorld Bank10.1596/21804