JUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND SECURITY STRENGTHENING ACTIVITY - DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE ...
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JUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND SECURITY
STRENGTHENING ACTIVITY
(Unidos por la Justicia)
QUARTERLY REPORT #16
CONTRACT NO. AID-522-TO-16-00007
OCTOBER, 30 2020
This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared
by DAI Global, LLC. The contents are the sole responsibility of DAI and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID
or the United States Government.
This work plan is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents are the sole responsibility
of DAI and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
DISCLAIMER: This work plan is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents are the
sole responsibility of DAI and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
Project Title: Justice, Human Rights, and Security
Strengthening (JHRSS) Activity
(Unidos por la Justicia)
QUARTERLY REPORT #16
July 1 to September 30, 2020
Sponsoring USAID Office: USAID/Honduras Office of Democracy and
Governance
Contract Number: AID-522-TO-16-000007
COR: María Gabriela Rivera
Alternate COR: Jesús Nuñez
Contractor: DAI GLOBAL, LLC
Date of Publication: October 30, 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 KEY ACHIEVEMENTS 3 INTRODUCTION 4 DEVLIVERABLES FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD 4 QUARTERLY PROGRESS 5 RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 EMERGENCY 5 HELPING JUSTICE OPERATORS COPE WITH FRONT LINES OF THE PANDEMIC 8 ANALYZING EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC FOR USAID 9 CHANNELING UNIDOS’ ACTIVITIES THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA 9 PROMOTING ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS 10 UNITING SECTORS AROUND THE PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE GROUPS 10 SUPPORT FOR CASA IXCHEL WOMEN’S SHELTER 10 ACCESS TO JUSTICE TRAINING FOR LGBTI ADVOCATES 10 SHARPENING THE FOCUS ON HUMAN RIGHTS WITH NEW STATE OBSERVATORY 10 IMPROVING THE DELIVERY OF JUSTICE SERVICES 11 VIRTUAL TRIALS AND GESELL CHAMBERS CURB IMPUNITY, PROTECT SUVIVORS 11 JUSTICE CENTER MANAGEMENT MODEL: MORE EFFICIENCY MEANS BETTER ACCESS 12 EFFICIENTLY RUN HEARINGS & HIGHER PERFOMRMING PROSECUTORIAL OFFICES 13 DIGITAL CASE FILES: AN HISTORIC STEP FOR COURT MODERNIZATION 14 AN ABIS SYSTEM FOR FORENSIC MEDICINE: TECHNOLOGY TO FIGHT IMPUNITY 14 CAPACITY BUILDING FOR JUSTICE OPERATORS 14 STRATEGIC SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL PERSONS REGISTRY 15 INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING OF THE NATIONAL POLICE 15 SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY POLICING, IMPROVING URBAN SECURITY 15 PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS 16 MONITORING, EVALUATION & LEARNING 17 LESSONS LEARNED 18 ANNEXES 19 ANNEX 1: QUARTERLY FINANCIAL STATEMENT 19 ANNEX 2: SUCCESS STORY 20 ANNEX 3: INDICATOR TABLE 22
ACRONYMS
ABIS Automated Biometric Identification System
AMHON Association of Honduran Municipalities/Asociación de Municipios de Honduras
AR Activity Result
ASJ Association for a More Just Society/Asociación para una Sociedad más Justa
ASU Arizona State University
ATIC Technical Criminal Investigations Agency/Agencia Técnica de Investigación
Criminal
CARSI Central American Regional Security Initiative
CASM Mennonite Social Action Committee/Comisión de Acción Social Menonita
CCIC Cortés Chamber of Commerce and Industry
CCIT Tegucigalpa Chamber of Commerce and Industry
CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy
CDH Human Development Center/Centro de Desarrollo Humano
CEDIJ Electronic Judicial Documentation and Information Center/Centro Electrónico
de Documentación e Información Judicial
CEIN Integrated Criminal Justice Centers
CNA National Anti-Corruption Council/Consejo Nacional de Anticorrupción
COHEP Honduran Private Enterprise Council/Consejo Hondureño de la Empresa Privada
COP Chief of Party
COSUDE Swiss Development Agency/Agencia Suiza para el Desarrollo
CSO Civil society organization
DAI DAI Global, LLC.
DCOP Deputy Chief of Party
DGMF General Department of Forensic Medicine
DO Development Objective
DPI Police Investigation Office/Dirección Policial de Investigación
EIC Criminal Investigations School, National Police
ER Expected Result
FUNDAHRSE Honduran Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility/Fundación Hondureña
de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial
GBV Gender-based Violence
GOH Government of Honduras
G.R.E.A.T. Gang Resistance Education and Training program
HICD Human and Institutional Capacity Development
INL Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement
IP Implementing Partner
ITP Police Technological Institute
IR Intermediate Result
IUDPAS University Institute in Democracy, Peace and Security/Instituto Universitario en
Democracia, Paz, y Seguridad
JHRSS Justice, Human Rights, and Security Strengthening/Proyecto Fortalecer Justicia,
Derechos Humanos y Seguridad
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
LGBTI Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex
1 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020
LTTA Long-Term Technical Assistance
MAIE Special Integrated Service Module/Módulo de Atención Integral Especial
MELP Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan
MNSPC National Community Policing Service Model (Honduran National Police/Modelo
Nacional de Servicio de Policía Comunitaria (Policía Nacional de Honduras)
MOMUCLAA Women’s Movement for the Colonia Lopez Arellano and Surroundings/
Movimiento de Mujeres de la Colonia López Arellano y Aledaños
MP Public Ministry (Attorney General’s Office)/Ministerio Publico
NCSC National Center for State Courts
NGO Non-governmental organization
ODECO Community Ethnic Development Organization/Organización de Desarrollo
Étnico Comunitario
OFRANEH Honduran Black Fraternal Organization/Organización Fraternal Negra
Hondureña
PEA Political Economy Analysis
PIRS Performance indicator reference sheet
RD Regional Director
SPS San Pedro Sula
SR Sub-Result
SRS Strategic Review Session
STTA Short-Term Technical Assistance
UDIMUF Integrated Women and Family Development Unit/Unidad de Desarrollo Integral
de la Mujer y la Familia
UNAH National Autonomous University of Honduras/Universidad Nacional Autónoma
Honduras
UMEP Metropolitan Prevention Unit/Unidad Metropolitana de Prevención
UDEP Departmental Prevention Unit/Unidad Departamental de Prevención
USAID United States Agency for International Development
USG United States Government
UTH Technological University of Honduras/Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras
2 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This quarterly report describes activities carried out between July 1 and September 30, 2020, by the
Justice, Human Rights and Security Strengthening Activity (JHRSS), known in Honduras as Unidos por la
Justicia (or simply Unidos), under contract No. AID-522-TO-16-00007, implemented by DAI Global,
LLC, since September 30, 2016.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
GIVING COUNTERPARTS TOOLS TO MAINTAIN SERVICES DURING THE PANDEMIC:
Unidos provided a variety of support to institutional and civil society counterparts that helped them
maintain essential services during the pandemic. This support took the form of bulk sanitation
supplies to organizations, police stations and judicial offices that attend to the public, as well as
emotional intelligence training that counselled more than 400 police officers on how to recognize
and deal with the stress associated with being essential frontline workers, and the need for patience
and empathy dealing with those affected by family violence. Unidos also supported counterparts in
the development and implementation of biosecurity protocols to guard their own heath, and that of
the people they serve.
SHARPENING THE FOCUS ON HUMAN RIGHTS WITH NEW STATE OBSERVATORY:
Unidos supported the Ministry of Human Rights’ effort to become an effective link between the
government and minority groups that have traditionally been subject to discrimination and
marginalization in Honduras. The ministry put the USAID-funded technological platform for its
Human Rights Observatory into operation and Unidos facilitated the observatory’s initial outreach
to organizations that advocate for LGBTI people and Afro-Hondurans.
DIGITAL CASE FILES, AN HISTORIC STEP FOR JUSTICE SYSTEM MODERNIZATION:
Unidos and the Judicial Branch completed remote programming and back-end testing of the first
module of the Electronic Judicial Case File System (SEJE) in the Extortion Court, paving the way for
front-end user testing of the module in the coming quarter. The e-filing module represents the
beginning of the court system’s conversion from paper to an electronic records system that will
result in more efficient and transparent justice services.
ABIS SYSTEM TO GIVE FORENSIC MEDICINE TECHNOLOGICAL EDGE OVER IMPUNITY:
Unidos installed the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) server at General
Department of Forensic Medicine (DGMF) headquarters in Tegucigalpa and installation of ABIS
terminals at DGMF offices in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba and in a Mobile Morgue was
underway at the end of the quarter. The system will dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes
to identify bodies and process trace evidence, giving investigators a jump on the perpetrators of
deadly violence.
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF JUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SECURITY DURING THE
PANDEMIC: Unidos technical staff kept USAID apprised of the pandemic’s toll on the justice and
security system with monthly situational analyses that relied on information gathered from the
project’s extensive and varied portfolio of counterparts. Unidos tracked the performance of
counterpart institutions and trends in major crimes, including homicide, extortion and other gang
activity. It analyzed the situation in the halls of justice and in the streets of the marginalized urban
communities that are the focus of USAID’s Development Objective 1.
3 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020INTRODUCTION
The Justice, Human Rights and Security Strengthening Activity (JHRSS), known in Honduras as Unidos
por la Justicia (referred to as Unidos), was launched by USAID/Honduras on September 30, 2016, with
the signing of Contract No. AID-522-TO-16-00007. Originally designed to run through February 13,
2021, the Activity was curtailed to an end date of September, 30, 2020, due to a budget cut in mid-2019,
and then given an extended end date of February 12, 2022, through a contract modification signed in
August 2020. Unidos is implemented by prime contractor DAI Global, LLC, in consortium with the
National Center for State Courts (NCSC). The project operates in the DO1 cities of Tegucigalpa, San
Pedro Sula, Choloma, La Ceiba and Tela, with staff based in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba.
The goal of Unidos is to promote more effective and accountable judicial, security sector organizations
and human rights institutions to help reduce violence in target municipalities, reduce impunity and
protect human rights. The project was designed to address root causes of irregular migration and in
mid-2019 added short-term migration prevention measures to its activities in response to shifting
United States Government priorities. Civil society has played an important role in advocating for reform
and helping people gain access to justice. Community leaders are working with police to improve
security at the neighborhood level. Unidos has emphasized collaboration with other USG projects and
flexible and adaptive management through place-based strategies that enhance access to justice and
promote community resiliency and self-reliance, especially for the most vulnerable populations –
specifically women, youth, persons with disabilities, Afro-Hondurans, and LGBTI individuals.
Unidos responds to the USAID/Honduras 2015–2019 Country Development Cooperation Strategy
(CDCS) by working toward Development Objective #1 (DO1): “Citizen security increased for vulnerable
populations in urban, high-crime areas.” Within DO1, the Activity responds to Intermediate Result (IR) 1.2:
“Performance of National and Municipal Justice and Security Systems Improved.”
This document represents Unidos por la Justicia’s Sixteenth Quarterly Performance and Financial
Report, covering activities implemented from July 1 through September 30, 2020.
Pursuant to the terms of the contract, this report presents progress on program implementation,
operations, and coordination. The narrative presents activities and results organized around strategic
lines of action, which generally involve collaboration across the project’s technical areas. The Unidos
technical team is organized around three Result Areas:
Activity Result Area 1: Citizen engagement with the security and justice sectors improved
(R1 - Civil Society).
Activity Result Area 2: Efficiency of security and justice systems improved (R2 - Institutional
Strengthening).
Activity Result Area 3: Increased effectiveness of community policing (R3 - Citizen Security).
DEVLIVERABLES FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD
In addition to the activities outlined in this report, Unidos submitted and/or received USAID approval
for the following contractual deliverables during the quarter:
4 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 15th Quarterly Report submitted to USAID July 30.
Bi-Weekly Reports #93 through #98 submitted and approved.
QUARTERLY PROGRESS
Unidos continued to support USAID’s COVID-19 response with funds reassigned with USAID approval
from activities interrupted by the pandemic. Unidos helped institutional and civil society counterparts
maintain their operations in the midst of the health emergency. Support continued for institutional
reforms that will improve access to justice and reduce levels of impunity via more effective service
provision. Strategic investments in technology will increase the efficiency of justice sector institutions
while promoting transparency, in concert with a more vigilant civil society. Some of those investments
took on increased significance amid the pandemic because they facilitated officials’ ability to work from
home or communicate electronically.
RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 EMERGENCY
Unidos provided a variety of support to institutional and civil society counterparts that helped them
maintain essential services during the pandemic and contributed to USAID’s COVID-19 response. The
Honduran government maintained a 24-hour curfew with broad exceptions for the operation of
commerce, but the coronavirus infection curve continued to climb throughout the quarter.
Unidos delivered cleaning and disinfectant products to help
counterpart civil society organizations (CSOs), women’s shelters,
police commands and justice system institutions maintain safe
working environments and serve the public’s needs amid the rapid
spread of coronavirus in Honduras. Unidos also distributed 37
backpack-style hand pump sprayers that allowed police stations and
justice system offices in DO1 jurisdictions to regularly disinfect
offices that attend to the public.
Unidos distributed 462 gallons of sanitizing hand gel, 460 gallons of
bleach, 274 gallons of liquid soap, 3.6 metric tons of powdered
Police officers at UMEP-2 in San
detergent in 22 lb. bags and 1,142 rolls of paper towels. The Pedro Sula receive backpack-style
$15,059 donation is expected to benefit 13,373 people. pump sprayers to disinfect their work
areas and stations that attend to the
public. As of September 30, 2020,
As of September 30, 2020, 1,173 members of the National Police 1,173 members of the National Police
(PN) tested positive for COVID-19, up from 536 at the beginning of had tested positive for COVID-19, up
the quarter. Unidos distributed cleaning and disinfectant products to from 536 at the beginning of the
quarter.
the National Police command centers listed below. The donation
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL POLICE.
directly benefitted 2,893 police officers who work in those police
stations or connected police posts, as well as approximately 2,800
people who seek services or are detained at those facilities.
Metropolitan Prevention Unit 1 (UMEP-1) command center,
Tegucigalpa
UMEP-2 command center, San Pedro Sula
5 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 Municipal Command, Choloma
Departmental Prevention Unit 1 (UDEP-1), La Ceiba
Municipal Command, Tela.
Unidos distributed cleaning and disinfectant products to the institutional counterparts listed below. The
offices were selected because of their established working relations with Unidos and/or their important
role in providing basic justice services during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially to vulnerable
population groups. The donation directly benefitted 626 justice system personnel and approximately
1,981 users of their services.
Tegucigalpa
The General Department of Forensic Medicine (DGMF)
Special Prosecutor’s Office for Women
Special Integrated Service Unit (MAIE)
Public Ministry Information Technology Department
Criminal Court
Domestic Violence Court
Judicial Branch Information Technology Department
Judicial Branch Quality Control Unit
The Public Defender’s Office, HQ
Integrated Criminal Justice Center (CIEN), holding cells, prosecutor’s office and Forensic Medicine
San Pedro Sula
Criminal Court
Criminal Court holding cells
Domestic Violence Court
Public Defender’s Office, main office and at Criminal Court
CEIN’s holding cells, prosecutor’s office, courtroom and Forensic Medicine office
Choloma
Sectional Court
La Ceiba
Special Prosecutor’s Office for Women
CEIN, CEIN holding cells
Criminal Court
Sentence Execution Court
Public Defender’s Office
Tela
Prosecutor’s Office
Public Defender’s Office
Unidos distributed cleaning and disinfectant products to the 35 civil society counterparts listed below.
Tegucigalpa
Asociación Arcoíris, LGBTI rights advocacy
Asociación Cozumel Trans, LGBTI rights advocacy
Colectivo Violeta, LGBTI rights advocacy
6 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 Asociación Kukulcan, LGBTI rights advocacy
Asociación APOAUTIS, advocacy and services for people with autism
Calidad de Vida, women’s rights and GBV services
PREPACE, Cerebral Palsy Rehabilitation Program
Law Clinic, National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH)
INFRACNOVI, services for the blind
San Pedro Sula
AFET, Feminist Trans Association
APOMUH, GBV advocacy, services
APREH, Association of People with Special Needs in Honduras
CUCR, Unity Collective Color Rosa, LGBTI advocacy
Esmirna, school for the deaf
UNCIH, National Union of Blind Hondurans
Penitentiary Pastoral Reinsertion Center, half-way house
Choloma
APOMUH, GBV advocacy
MOMUCLAA, women’s rights, GBV services
La Ceiba
ANDECIP, services for people with disabilities
APREDAH, services for people with disabilities
Luago Hatuadi Waduheñu Foundation/OFRANEH Garifuna advocacy and health services
ODECO, Community Ethnic Development Organization/Garifuna
Humanos en Acción, LGBTI advocacy and services
Mennonite Evangelical Church Peace and Justice Project, GBV and social services
OPROUCE, La Ceiba Pro-Union Organization, LGBTI advocacy
UDIMUF, Integrated Women and Family Development Unit, GBV legal and psychological services
UNCIH, National Union of Blind Hondurans
Tela
AHLMYS, Honduran Association for People with Brain Injuries and Similar Disabilities
APREST, Tela Association for Prevention and Education in Sexual Health and AIDS
Mariposas Libres, women’s rights, GBV services
Women’s Shelters
Gladyz Lanza Refuge, in Tegucigalpa
Integrated Care Center for Women, in Choluteca
Lucecitas Refuge, in San Pedro Sula
Casa Ixchel, in La Ceiba
Puerto Cortés Refuge, Puerto Cortés
At the end of the quarter, Unidos sponsored a virtual workshop on biosecurity protocols for 16 staff
and volunteers from four of these shelters. Unidos coordinated with the private sector to implement
the training, enlisting a doctor who works for a pharmacy chain to provide prevention information
tailored to the shelters’ confined quarters. In the coming quarter, Unidos will provide additional training
and support implementing prevention protocols to shelters in La Ceiba, San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa.
7 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020HELPING JUSTICE OPERATORS COPE WITH FRONT LINES OF THE PANDEMIC
In the second half of July, Unidos completed a series of 20 training sessions designed to help 422 PN
officers deal with the stress of performing their duties as frontline workers during the COVID-19
pandemic. The interactive sessions were remotely led over a two-week period via Unidos’ online
platform.
Psychologist Blanca Mejia of Unidos counterpart Integrated Women and Family Development Unit
(UDIMUF) conducted the sessions on a pro-bono basis. Dr. Mejia led 10 groups of officers in two 90-
minute sessions that explored the stress of working in times of crisis and techniques for managing it. She
covered the importance of recognizing and managing one’s own emotions, as well as empathy and
effective communications with fellow officers and the public, especially survivors of domestic and
gender-based violence (GBV). Unidos coordinated the sessions with the Police Technological Institute
(ITP) and the Police Training Center. Students and instructors at the two facilities and a group from the
Criminal Investigations School (EIC) in Comayagua took part in the training. In August, Unidos
supported a similar online training for 27 police officers in La Ceiba.
Unidos facilitated an arrangement under which 390 police
officers teaching or studying at the ITP took an online
biosecurity course hosted by the Tegucigalpa Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (CCIT). The Cortés Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (CCIC) used its Facebook page to
make the course available to participants in San Pedro Sula
in group settings, and Unidos organized biosecurity study
sessions for 31 police officers and community leaders
there.
The course was created by the CCIT with support from
USAID’s Empleando Futuros project. In the wake of that
experience, Unidos began supporting an ITP initiative to
produce digital materials for online biosecurity training
tailored to the police context. Unidos launched that
initiative in coordination with the Japan International
USAID/Honduras Mission Director Fernando Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the training site is
Cossich speaks at the graduation ceremony for
police who completed a Unidos-sponsored course expected to go live in the coming quarter.
on Emotional Intelligence and Coping Strategies
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unidos arranged for a Honduran Red Cross expert to
provide biosecurity training for eight members of the PN’s
Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.)
program in Chamelecón, San Pedro Sula. The G.R.E.A.T.
program was introduced to Honduras by the US
Government’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement. Unidos also coordinated a visit by the same
Red Cross specialist to the PN’s regional health clinic in
San Pedro Sula to review the facility’s biosecurity
measures.
8 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020ANALYZING EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC FOR USAID
In addition to the activities in Unidos’ approved and budgeted COVID-19 response plan, the project’s
technical staff kept USAID apprised of pandemic’s toll on the justice and security system. Unidos
produced monthly situational analyses that tracked the performance of counterpart institutions and
trends in major crimes, including homicides and gang activity. The reduction in homicides registered in
the last quarter, as the pandemic took hold and the economy largely shut down, reversed during the
July-September period, climbing back up as the economy slowly reopened. By the end of September,
there were more homicides registered nationally than during the same, pre-pandemic month of 2019.
The increase appeared to be fueled by competition between the gangs as they emerged from COVID-19
isolation and began fighting for control of urban drug distribution. Unidos’ analysis also noted a
disturbing increase in human rights abuses targeting LGBTI people and Afro-Hondurans. Unidos worked
with LGBTI counterparts during the quarter to develop a social media campaign called More Justice,
Less Discrimination which Unidos will help promote in the coming quarter.
CHANNELING UNIDOS’ ACTIVITIES THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA
Unidos continued social media outreach to its counterparts and the general public, getting out messaging
that furthers the project’s mandate from USAID. Unidos hosted six Facebook Live presentations on
topics related to human rights, justice, and COVID-19 prevention in Honduras. The presentations relied
on volunteer speakers, drew a total of 274 peak live viewers, registered the engagement of 5,225 people
and had a reach of approximately 51,000 Facebook viewers.
UNIDOS FACEBOOK LIVE PRESENTATIONS
DATE TOPIC/SPEAKERS PEAK ENGAGE- REACH***
VIEWS* MENTS**
7/3 Presentation of Results of USAID-funded IUDPAS Survey on Perceptions 46 97 3,000
about Migration in Honduras/ Midgonia Ayestas
7/17 LGBTI Leaders Present a Situational Analysis of How LGBTI Persons Are 50 282 4,800
Faring During the Pandemic/Vienna Ávila, Alex Sorto, Iván Banegas
7/22 Recipients of the USAID Community Heroes Award, on the Importance 18 85 1,100
of Citizen Participation/ LGBTI advocate Sasha Rodríguez, Community
Leader Rely Mencía
8/21 Closing Ceremony for Emotional Intelligence/ UDIMUF, CCIT, PN, 100 408 39,000
USAID MD Fernando Cossich, Vice Minister of Security Alexandra
Hernandez
8/26 Psychological Guide to Returning to Work After Coronavirus 36 277 2,200
Lockdown/ MP Psychologist Oscar Aguilar
9/30 Biosecurity Protocols at Home and at Work/ Dr. Karla García 24 76 1,200
TOTALS 274 1,225 51,300
* Peak Live Views: Highest number of concurrent live viewers.
** Engagement: Number of clicks, shares, likes or other reactions to the post.
*** Reach: Number of people who saw the post at least one time (Facebook Analytics Estimate)
9 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020PROMOTING ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS UNITING SECTORS AROUND THE PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE GROUPS Unidos promoted the protection of people in situations of vulnerability during the health emergency, forming an alliance with former grantee Honduran Business Social Responsibility Foundation (FUNDAHRSE) to involve the private sector in educating advocates of vulnerable groups about COVID- 19 and how to prevent it. The first in a series of these online sessions led by a doctor who works for a pharmacy chain was held at the end of September for 52 civil society advocates for vulnerable groups. Participants joined from all five municipalities where Unidos operates and included representatives of organizations that advocate for LGBTI people, people with disabilities, women, Afro-Hondurans and youth. Personnel from the UNAH Law Clinic and women’s shelters also took part. Unidos, FUNDAHRSE and the Human Rights Ministry worked together to organize a series of webinars for business executives on social responsibility and human rights during the pandemic. Those sessions will be held in October 2020. SUPPORT FOR CASA IXCHEL WOMEN’S SHELTER Unidos procured equipment needed for upgrades at Casa Ixchel in La Ceiba, allowing the shelter to provide refuge to women fleeing domestic violence in a safer and more dignified setting. The upgrades were originally scheduled for completion under a now-ended grant to the Mennonite Evangelical Church, but that component of the grant was subject to pandemic-related delays. Unidos completed the upgrades directly, serving as a bridge to a grant that Unidos will award in the coming quarter and which will include continued support for Casa Ixchel. ACCESS TO JUSTICE TRAINING FOR LGBTI ADVOCATES Unidos held a series of dialogues for 36 LGBTI activists on human rights and how to seek justice when those rights are violated. Unidos organized the dialogues in response to an increase in violence targeting LGBTI people during the pandemic. So far in 2020, at least 16 LGBTI individuals have been killed, and many of those violent deaths are suspected to be hate crimes. An expert from counterpart organization Colectivo Violeta led two of the workshops; one on human rights and LGBTI people and another on gender identities and the law. The third session featured a presentation of the route for filing criminal complaints by an attorney of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Human Rights. Both experts provided their services at no cost to Unidos. SHARPENING THE FOCUS ON HUMAN RIGHTS WITH NEW STATE OBSERVATORY Unidos supported the Ministry of Human Rights’ effort to become an effective link between the government and minority groups that have traditionally been subject to discrimination and marginalization in Honduras. The ministry put the USAID-funded technological platform for its Human Rights Observatory into operation, and Unidos facilitated the observatory’s initial outreach to organizations that advocate for LGBTI people and Afro-Hondurans. In addition to developing a web- based platform with human rights information and resources, Unidos helped the ministry develop a mobile app that CSOs can use to feed information about threats, abuses and other rights violations to the observatory. The resulting system has the potential to produce a constant and timely flow of 10 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020
information that the ministry can use to advocate for government policies or compliance with existing
policies designed to address human rights issues.
At the end of July, Unidos brought the observatory’s director together with representatives of seven
CSOs that advocate for LGBTI rights and two that advocate for Afro-Hondurans, introducing them to
the mobile app, encouraging them to submit information about violations to the ministry, and listening
to their observations about the reporting system and the observatory’s website. Despite some
reservations about the ministry’s ability to serve as an honest broker of their concerns, the civil society
advocates committed to participating in a two-way exchange of information using the observatory as the
vehicle.
IMPROVING THE DELIVERY OF JUSTICE SERVICES
Unidos used telephone-based and online communications to advance the implementation of the
following institutional strengthening activities during the quarter:
Installation of a Gesell chamber in Tegucigalpa’s Criminal Court;
Implementation of the management model for Integrated Criminal Justice Centers (CEIN) that
began in San Pedro Sula;
Implementation of a system for expediting courtroom hearings in 28 courtrooms;
Implementation of management models to enhance the performance of three special prosecutorial
units;
Installation and back-end testing of initial components of the Electronic Judicial Case File System
(SEJE) in the Extortion Court;
Installation of an Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) at the MP’s DGMF.
VIRTUAL TRIALS AND GESELL CHAMBERS CURB IMPUNITY, PROTECT SUVIVORS
Unidos completed installation of a Gesell chamber in Tegucigalpa’s Criminal Court and worked with the
national coordinator of the Gesell chamber program and court officials to plan trainings for justice
operators on the chamber’s use. Those trainings are expected to get underway in the next quarter. As
the Gesell chamber Unidos helped install in San Pedro Sula’s Criminal Court in May 2020 has
demonstrated, the Tegucigalpa chamber will bring about timelier resolution of sexual and physical abuse
cases involving children while reducing their exposure to trauma and revictimization in the courtroom.
The Gesell system allows vulnerable witnesses to rendered testimony to a court psychologist in the
one-on-one setting of an inner chamber while the judge, prosecutor, defense attorney and, at times,
defendant, observe from behind one-way glass in the outer chamber. Court technicians record the
proceeding, entering the testimony into the court record. The chambers avoid additional trauma by
limiting the number of times a child is forced to tell his or her story in court, and avoid the need to do
so face-to-face with their aggressor, who often is a close relative. Extortion judges and prosecutors in
San Pedro Sula have also put the chamber there to good use for suspect line-ups and taking testimony
11 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020from protected witnesses against gang members whose criminal organizations pose a mortal threat to
people who testify against them in open court.
As demonstrated by an identical system installed in San Pedro Sula in February 2020, the video
conferencing system in Tegucigalpa’s criminal court will reduce the risk of prisoner escape or
transmission of COVID-19 by reducing the need for defendants to travel long distances for court
appearances. The use of virtual trials facilitated by the equipment has gained relevance during the
pandemic and become a priority of the Judicial Branch.
JUSTICE CENTER MANAGEMENT MODEL: MORE EFFICIENCY MEANS BETTER ACCESS
Unidos worked closely with the Inter-Institutional Sub
Commission on Criminal Justice in San Pedro Sula to
define the process of implementing the CEIN
management model in that city. Implementation will
start in the coming quarter with training of CEIN
personnel in the model’s User Services Manual and its
Basic Rules of Operation Manual. Better regulation of
the flow of users through the CEIN has taken on
critical importance during the COVID-19 pandemic
and involves issues not originally contemplated in the
management model. Unidos worked with the sub A police officer mounts USAID-branded signage
commission to update the manuals during the quarter. designed to orient members of the public who
seek justice services at the CEIN in San Pedro
The first visible evidence of management model Sula. The signage is emblematic of a broader
implementation appeared in September, when Unidos USAID-funded reorganization of the integrated
delivered signage that will help guide users of the justice center that will provide an example for
CEINs in all of the country’s major cities.
center along the route for filing criminal complaints.
MARVIN PINEDA FOR DAI
CEINs house a range of justice operators, providing
comprehensive justice services at one location. The
centers also house a Special Integrated Service Module
(MAIE), which is equipped to handle GBV cases and
violence affecting children or people in other situations
of vulnerability, which is aligned with Unidos’ priorities.
Implementation of the User Service and Basic Rules
manuals will involve all of those actors, from the police
who control who enters and leaves the facility, to the
detectives who record criminal complaints and the
forensic pathologists who document injuries, to the
prosecutors who recommend charges and the judge
who ratifies or rejects them. Pandemic conditions and
reliance on virtual meetings slowed the pace of this
activity during the quarter, but the pre-training phase
has served to solidify the Sub Commission’s
involvement in, commitment to, and ownership over
the management model developed by Unidos.
12 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020EFFICIENTLY RUN HEARINGS & HIGHER PERFORMING PROSECUTORIAL OFFICES Unidos grantee Association for a More Just Society (ASJ) completed the design of protocols for implementation of the Results-Based Prosecutorial Management Model (MGFR) in the Special Prosecutor’s Offices for Children and Adolescents, Human Rights and for Crimes Against Life (FEDCV). Under the same grant, initiated in February 2020, ASJ wrote and validated the manuals being used to implement the Management Model for Judicial Hearings (MGJA) in 28 criminal courtrooms of Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and Choloma. ASJ and a team of international consultants developed operational protocols for all three of the special prosecutor’s offices and validated them with the coordinators of those units. They developed an investigations protocol for the FEDCV that also involves the MP’s Technical Criminal Investigations Agency (ATIC) and the PN’s Police Investigations Department (DPI). That protocol was validated with the relevant operational units. With the Judicial Branch, ASJ completed development the MGJA Jurisdictional and Administrative Operations Manual and a separate guide to its implementation. The manual and guide were both validated with court officials. The MGJA includes replacement of the existing system of court reporters who transcribe proceedings, with a new digital recording system that will speed up the hearing process and increase the accuracy of court records. ASJ provided the first of two phases of technical training to 130 court officers and employees in participating courtrooms. The model is being implemented in 19 courtrooms within Tegucigalpa’s Criminal Court, eight in San Pedro Sula and the one in Choloma. The Judicial Branch made physical modifications to courtroom interiors to accommodate MGJA implementation, and ASJ ordered electronic equipment and furnishings needed to implement the model. ASJ contracted a company to create an online training platform that will facilitate implementation during the pandemic and remain as an enduring legacy of USAID’s investment for years to come. ASJ developed the MGJA over a period of several years with non-Unidos funding and had already piloted its implementation in 14 courtrooms before Unidos awarded the association the current grant to expand the model into 28 additional courtrooms. During the quarter, ASJ developed a plan for improving the MGJA based on the study of recordings from 45 hearings conducted in courtrooms where the model has already been implemented. ASJ also began development of a guide to implementing virtual trials that is based on Judicial Branch regulations for conducting remote hearings and on regulations and guidelines from the judicial system of Costa Rica and from international organizations based in Latin America. The guide will cover technical and procedural protocols for conducting virtual hearings. It is being added to ASJ’s work plan under the grant in response to the expansion of virtual trials amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Unidos will formally incorporate that activity into ASJ’s grant agreement in the coming quarter. At the end of August, ASJ presented its third Report on Impunity in Homicides 2010-2019 in an online ceremony live-streamed on ASJ’s and Unidos’ Facebook pages. Unidos covered the cost of the report’s graphic design and layout and Unidos’ technical and communications staff provided comments on the first draft of the report. The study found that only 21 percent of 2019 homicides resulted in convictions. It points out that government investment in security is skewed toward police and military suppression of crime and recommends greater investment in investigative capacity, the court system and crime prevention. 13 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020
DIGITAL CASE FILES: AN HISTORIC STEP FOR COURT MODERNIZATION Unidos subcontractor National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and Judicial Branch programmers completed remote programming and quality control (back-end testing) for the first module of the Electronic Judicial Case File System (SEJE), paving the way for front-end user testing of the module in the coming quarter. Testing of the module with the court officials who will operate it represents an important milestone in a modernization process that USAID has supported for more than two years. SEJE will eventually result in the conversion of Honduras’ entire court system from paper to electronic records, resulting in more efficient and transparent justice services. The e-filing and judicial notifications module is ready for operational rollout in the Extortion Court in the last quarter of CY 2020, to be followed by the Corruption Court in the first quarter of CY 2021. Hardware associated with a second module, for biometric identification, will be installed in the last quarter of CY 2020 and that module will be ready for end-user testing at the beginning of 2021. During the quarter covered by this report, NCSC developed a process for remote back-end testing and materials for online training in the use of the e-filing module, which allowed implementation to move forward despite the pandemic. SEJE is the flagship project of a Judicial Branch Strategic Innovation and Modernization Plan developed with Unidos/NCSC support. Supreme Court President Rolando Argueta and his management team used another innovation stemming from that effort to monitor the progress of SEJE implementation during the pandemic: The Electronic Annual Operating Plan (e-AOP). The e-AOP currently allows nine administrative offices to monitor implementation of SEJE and other priority initiatives in real time, checking progress against targets and budget expenditures. AN ABIS SYSTEM FOR FORENSIC MEDICINE: TECHNOLOGY TO FIGHT IMPUNITY The company that is supplying the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) that Unidos procured for the DGMF completed installation of the ABIS server in the DGMF server room and technicians from the German company that supplied the system remotely installed the ABIS software with the aid of an interpreter, they provided MP information technology staff with an overview of the system and how to maintain it. Installation of ABIS terminals at DGMF offices in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba and in a Mobile Morgue was underway at the end of the quarter, and training of DGMF personnel in the use of that equipment and of four tablet-based mobile units for use at crimes scenes will get underway in the last quarter of CY 2020. The system will dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to identify bodies and process trace evidence, relieving the families of crime victims of the anguish of not having a positive identification of their loved ones and allowing law enforcement to initiate pursuit of the perpetrators of deadly violence in the crucial early hours of an investigation. CAPACITY BUILDING FOR JUSTICE OPERATORS Unidos sponsored two digital conferences, on July 31 and September 3, that provided 92 MP prosecutors with information about the implications of recently adopted changes to the Criminal Code for the prosecution of cases involving family and domestic violence. Unidos produced the conferences on its digital media platform in coordination with the MP Training School. The trainings were imparted by the coordinator of the MP’s MAIE program. 14 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020
STRATEGIC SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL PERSONS REGISTRY
Unidos facilitated coordination between the National Persons Registry (RNP) and the MP Training
School which resulted in an MP dactyloscopy expert’s training 18 employees of the RNP’s new
“Identifícate” program in fingerprint analysis. The group completed the 20-day course on August 21,
2020, and began working as Identifícate’s fingerprint analysis department. They play an important role in
ensuring the integrity of the RNP’s database, which is a main source of information for voter rolls.
Helping arrange the training allowed Unidos to establish productive working relations with the RNP
which will be of strategic importance to Unidos’ goal of connecting the RNPs biometric database to the
ABIS database Unidos is installing at the DGMF.
INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING OF THE NATIONAL POLICE
Most of Unidos’ support for the PN during the quarter involved support dealing with the National
Health Emergency and is reported under the COVID-19 Response section of this report. Unidos did
produce a draft of its external evaluation of how the PN handles domestic and gender-based violence,
and will deliver that set of documents to the PN in the following quarter.
Unidos created the design for an Inter-Institutional Coordination Mechanism for improving how the PN
handles violence against women and presented it to the PN Gender Unit for comment and approval.
The unit requested Unidos’ help developing the mechanism, which would consist of an online app with
an electronic form that CSO counterparts and justice operators can access to report incidents of
perceived insensitivity or policy violations by police officers handling cases involving domestic or gender-
based violence. Technical staff from all three Unidos Result Areas contributed to the design, to ensure it
is capable of generating effective communication between the Gender Unit, CSOs and justice operators.
Once consensus is developed at the technical level, the mechanism will be presented to PN leadership
and USAID for review and approval.
Implementation of the Migration and Security Mapping activity designed to transfer USAID’s color
mapping methodology to the PN remained on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the activity’s
dependence on extensive community-level interaction between the police and urban residents.
SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY POLICING,
IMPROVING URBAN SECURITY
The PN used megaphones provided by Unidos to
broadcast COVID-19 prevention messaging in DO1
neighborhoods of San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba and Tela.
The 31 megaphones are equipped with USB ports
that enabled them to broadcast a professionally
recorded message that mentioned USAID support.
A National Police patrol uses a USAID-branded The message encourages people to stay indoors to
megaphone to broadcast COVID-19 prevention the extent possible and provides information about
messaging in the Satélite sector of San Pedro Sula.
basic measures people can take to avoid bringing
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL POLICE
coronavirus into their homes. The activity encouraged
the PN to conduct patrols in DO1 neighborhoods
and allowed them to productively engage with the
population without the risk of spreading or
contracting coronavirus.
15 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020The COVID-19 prevention patrols were conducted in the La Ceiba neighborhoods of Bonitillo, Barrio
La Isla, 4 de Enero, 3 de Mayo, Las Delicias, La Ponce, Tornabé and Confite; in Tela’s Barrio San José;
and in San Pedro Sula’s Satélite and Chamelecón sectors. Unidos used the recording as the soundtrack
for an animated video short that the PN disseminated on its social media channels. At the end of
quarter, Unidos coordinated with the Security Ministry to organize the first in a series of planned virtual
dialogues on community well-being and biosecurity measures during the pandemic. This activity linked a
ministry official in Tegucigalpa with 28 at-risk youths and four community leaders in Choloma’s
Quebrada Seca neighborhood.
At the end of the quarter, Unidos supported three meetings that brought small groups of community
members in San Pedro Sula neighborhoods together with police officers from the G.R.E.A.T. program
and officials of the Municipal Emergency Committee (CODEM). The emergency officials encouraged
community leaders to develop local response plans and discussed local strategies for limiting the spread
of COVID-19. Those sessions were attended by seven leaders at a community center in Rivera
Hernández, by eight leaders at a church in the Satélite neighborhood, and by five community leaders in
the Chamelecón sector’s San Antonio neighborhood. The chosen venues had large, well-ventilated
rooms or halls that allowed for social distancing and all participants wore masks.
Unidos supported a PN activity designed to promote more productive working relations with residents
of high-crime areas via a virtual dialogue between 30 community leaders from different DO1 cities and
Tegucigalpa-based officers who direct the G.R.E.A.T. program. Unidos hosted the meeting on an
internet-based platform. It allowed for the sharing of experiences across all five of the Unidos’ target
municipalities: San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa, Choloma, La Ceiba and Tela.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
On September 7, 2020, an acting COP assumed direction of Unidos days after the previous COP
departed the project. DAI was recruiting a permanent COP at the end of the quarter.
On August 11, 2020, DAI signed a contract modification that obligated a second tranche of $1.5
million in incremental funding to the project and extended the contract duration to Feb. 13, 2022.
An additional $2.6 million was obligated September 24, 2020.
On September 10, 2020, Unidos signed a modification of NCSC’s contract that increased the
obligated amount by $80,000.
On September 28, 2020, the COR approved the revised schedule for Deliverables under the
contract as follows:
Revision of the current PEA — Oct. 9, 2020
Submission of the Consolidated Y4 WP, to run for 13 months from January 1, 2020, through
January 31, 2021 — Oct. 23, 2020. (This submission includes a revised MEL Plan to accommodate
the effect of four additional months of implementation on Year 4 indicator targets.)
Report on the Annual Strategic Review — Nov. 13, 2020.
16 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 Year 5 Work Plan, covering the period of February 1, 2021, through the end of the project —
Dec. 18, 2020.
Y4 Annual Report, covering 13 months — Feb. 28, 2021.
Regional offices:
Unidos maintained its regional office in San Pedro Sula, negotiating a 50 percent reduction in
monthly rent as of July 1, 2020.
Unidos closed its regional office in La Ceiba in the previous quarter and stored two vehicles
furnishings and supplies in a secure space on loan from the municipality until conditions merit
renting a new, smaller office space. Staff is currently working from home.
Next Steps:
Submission of the first four deliverables listed above on their respective due dates.
Issuance of an extension to the NCSC contract through February 12, 2021, with an increased
obligation of $90,000.
Return to fulltime status, effective October 1, 2020, for the five staff members who were
previously reduced to part-time because of funding cuts.
Proposal of the COP to replace the Acting COP.
MONITORING, EVALUATION & LEARNING
During the month of July, Unidos held four work sessions with MESCLA and USAID to define new
indicators.
The PIRS for 11 new indicators were prepared and incorporated into the revised MELP.
Unidos submitted the 2020 MELP to USAID on September 7, and answered final questions about
the plan on September 28.
Unidos completed the evaluation of Advocacy Capacity (end-line) of 15 CSOs that participated in
capacity building and updated the Advocacy Capacity Dashboard to reflect those final results.
The MELP team designed an instrument to evaluate institutional innovations based on consultants’
reports and database records, and an instrument to evaluate progress implementing innovations,
based on counterpart interviews.
Unidos applied an instrument to assess compliance levels with the result-based management models
being implemented at the Public Ministry and the Judicial Branch.
Next Steps:
Application of the instruments to evaluate innovations to ABIS, SEJE and the Human Rights App.
17 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 Continue to evaluate the implementation of the Management models.
Information collected for the Baseline of User Satisfaction of Justice Services.
Monitor the WPY4 compliance.
Train Justice Operators about the information required to measure the results of the innovations.
LESSONS LEARNED
THE VOLATILE NATURE OF PRISONS REQUIRES CAUTIOUS APPROACHES TO ACTIVITIES
DESIGNED TO SUPPORT INMATES. Unidos has been forced to abandon its long-standing goal of
increasing access to justice for people charged with crimes through a closed-circuit video-conferencing
link that allows inmates to confer from Tamara prison with their Public Defense attorneys in
Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula or La Ceiba. Those plans have effectively been dropped due to
circumstances outside Unidos’ control, a reversal that represents a significant loss to Unidos in terms of
LOE. The project’s management and Institutional Strengthening staff invested time over a period of two
years in creating the level of inter-institutional cooperation and prison administration commitment
needed to create a digital channel of communications between defendants and their court appointed
lawyers. Design of the installation at Tamara National Penitentiary was in itself a complicated and time-
consuming process. All of those hurdles were either overcome or in the process of being resolved when
a security crisis swept through the prison system at the end of 2019, characterized by escapes, riots that
ended in multiple fatalities and the assassination in maximum security prison of a high-profile prisoner
whose evidence contributed to the drug trafficking conviction in a US court of the younger brother of
Honduras’ president. Unidos continued to push for the installation of a conference room at Tamara
even after the Executive Branch declared an emergency in the prison system and placed it under
management of the Honduran Armed Forces. But emergency management came with strengthened
security measures that invalidated Unidos design, and available remedies for installation of the facility
under the current security regime involve prohibitive costs.
PANDEMIC OPENS UNIDOS’ EYES TO ADVANTAGES OF VIRTURAL PROGRAMMING: The
need to implement activities via digital communications due to the health emergency has made Unidos’
technical team more aware of the advantages that come with video conferenced activities. Unidos
brought community leaders from urban areas in all five of the project’s focus municipalities together
with high-ranking police officials in Tegucigalpa for a productive sharing of their experiences participating
in community policing activities. While the virtual gatherings are not as fulfilling as having everyone in the
same room, they do offer certain advantages. They bridge distance in a way that would be cost
prohibitive with the in-person meetings Unidos relied on before the pandemic. The methodology also
provides a measure of security not available in community settings, where leaders must watch what they
say due to the likelihood that they are being observed by gang lookouts. What is lost in the quality face-
to-face interaction is compensated for by the ability to bring a greater diversity of experience and
opinion to an online discussion. For these reasons, virtual conferencing is a cost-effective
implementation strategy that Unidos will continue to employ even after the current restrictions on in-
person gathering are relaxed.
18 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020ANNEXES ANNEX 1: QUARTERLY FINANCIAL STATEMENT 19 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020
ANNEX 2: SUCCESS STORY
USAID Brings Innovation to Honduran Justice System
It started as a recommendation. A bullet point in the assessment of the Honduran Judicial Branch’s
technology platform using USAID’s Human and Institutional Capacity Development (HICD)
methodology. Now adopted, the results are at Chief Justice Rolando Argueta’s fingertips as he scrolls
through the Electronic Annual Operating Plan (e-AOP), checking progress against targets for the highest
priority initiatives in the Judicial Branch Strategic Innovation and Modernization Plan (PEIM).
“Our boss is looking over our shoulders on his phone,” says Planning and Budget Director Maria Jose
Laitano in a tone tinged with triumph rather than trepidation. She championed adoption of the e-AOP,
as recommended by USAID contractor DAI’s Unidos por la Justicia project, and its subcontractor
National Center for State Courts (NCSC).
“The advantages of this tool is that it brings everything together in one shared place, allowing us to align
our efforts, and all under the established goals and objectives of the institution and the priorities of
management,” Ms. Laitano said of the e-AOP.
The Judicial Branch’s full-hearted adoption of the e-AOP is emblematic of a revolution in the way it
institutional evolution. Once Unidos had helped develop the PEIM, the project encouraged Judicial
Branch management it needed a better coordinated project planning and implementation structure to
make the modernization plan a reality.
ELECTRONIC OPERATING PLAN FOR PROJECT AND PROCESS TRACKING
The Judicial Branch e-AOP is an online tool for real-time tracking of projects and processes. The graphic shows 12 of the
highest priority items out of the 80 currently monitored by nine administrative departments using e-AOP.
20 | JHRSS 16TH QUARTERLY REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020You can also read
