Honduras

We Effect arrived in Honduras in 1987. Since then we have worked with people from the peasant, indigenous and feminist movements, as well as housing cooperatives. Our work consists of accompanying these people with financing and strategic assistance to reduce the gaps of social inequality in the country. Honduras was one of the first countries of work for We Effect in Latin America when we established operations in the country in 1987.

In the last 12 years — after the coup d’état in 2009 — democracy and human rights have become more fragile and vulnerable, and the government has adopted a model of economic development based on extractive projects of natural resources.

Both situations have made the land and territory defenders with whom We Effect works more vulnerable and precarious. In the face of political and social violence and the deterioration of socio-economic conditions, forced displacement and migration of people have also increased over the last decade.

Currently, Honduras is one of the countries with the highest levels of inequality in Latin America, as evidenced by data provided by the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) of the Organization of American States (OAS). The data establish that around 68% of the Honduran population lives in poverty and 45% lives in extreme poverty. As a result, the vast majority cannot meet their basic needs for food, health, education, housing and alternatives for development.

To combat these and other problems in Honduras, we work with partners in peasant, indigenous and feminist movement organizations—as well as housing cooperatives and non-governmental development and human rights organizations.

Our work consists of supporting and accompanying these individuals and organizations with financing and technical and strategic assistance so that they can help reduce the gaps of social inequality in Honduras. Using a rights-based approach, we advocate for the protection of economic, social, cultural and environmental rights in the country — especially the right to land and territory, decent housing and gender equality.

We currently work in 9 of the country’s 18 departments — especially in the southern, western and northeastern regions.

Over more than 30 years of cooperation, We Effect’s work in Honduras has contributed to improving the coordination of peasant organizations on several key issues for sustainable rural development. For example, access to land and credit, the promotion of peasant and indigenous agriculture, and the defense of the rights of the peasant movement.

Through our work on women’s rights, we have been able to enhance the political positioning, visibility and expansion of spaces for rural women in the country. In this area, in recent years we have begun to raise awareness of the care economy and the formation of civil society organizations around this fundamental right.

In the same way, We Effect’s cooperation has given life to a social movement linked to the defense and political advocacy for the human right to housing and habitat that was not previously very present in Honduras.