Loan of $25 million to support revision of the country’s poverty map, strengthen the system of production of basic statistics
Honduras will improve basic statistics to facilitate public decision-making, with an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan of $25 million to finance the implementation of a National Census of Population and Housing 2012 and an Integrated Household Survey.
The census will update the statistical information that provides information on housing, households and individuals in 298 municipalities in Honduras, including indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants. In addition, a master sampling framework for future household surveys will be designed, and the National Demographic and Health Survey (ENDESA) 2011/2012 will be conducted.
With the new census data, Honduras intends to revise the poverty map of 2004, allowing the government to monitor key programs and accurately estimate the costs of social programs and facilitate the formulation of new public policies. The new data will allow the government to monitor the ENDESA Health Plan 2010-2014, and to report the country’s performance related to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The program will focus on the following areas:
- Support the implementation of National Census on Population and Housing 2012, which will update and disseminate the socio-demographic, economic and housing map.
- Implementation of an integrated system for the Permanent Household Multiple Purposes Survey to regularly check socio-economic conditions of the population and demographic variables.
- Support the implementation of the National Demographic and Health Survey 2011-2012, which will provide information on the health condition of children under five, as well as women and men of reproductive age.
- Technical training and administrative staff of the National Institute of Statistics and some entities of the National Statistical System, which are key to the development of the program, such as the Secretary of Health and the Technical Secretariat of Planning and External Cooperation.
This financing is a loan from the IDB's ordinary capital of $17.5 million for 25 years with a grace period of 72 months and a fixed interest rate. The Special Fund of the IDB will provide another $7.5 million for 40 years with a grace period of 40 years and an annual interest rate of 0.25 percent. The local counterpart will be $3.93 million, of which $1.43 million will be provided by USAID, the U.S. international development agency.
This loan complements a technical cooperation approved by the IDB in September 2010 to support the National Institute of Statistics in the preparation and planning of basic statistical production in Honduras.