COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF HONDURAS

CESCR
25th session
26 April 2001
Afternoon







Honduras Uses 34 Per Cent of National Budget
to Service Foreign Debt, Delegation Says


Honduras told the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this afternoon that 34 per cent of its annual national budget was used to service its foreign debt as it was one of the most indebted countries in the world.

The comment by the Government delegation came during the discussion on the initial report of Honduras on how that country was implementing the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Following a three-meeting discussion, which started yesterday afternoon, the Committee concluded its consideration of the report.

In the course of the discussion, the delegation told the Committee that the passage of Hurricane Mitch had exacerbated the situation in Honduras.

At the end of the meeting, Committee Chairperson Virginia Bonoan-Dandan said the Government of Honduras should avail itself to advisory and technical assistance provided by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Committee will issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Honduras towards the end of its three-week session on 11 May.

Honduras is among the 144 States parties to the Covenant and as such it must provide periodic reports highlighting the various measures undertaken to implement the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Friday, 27 April, it will take up the initial report of China: Hong Kong (E/1990/5/Add.43).


Discussion

Committee members asked the delegation to provide information on the measures taken by the Government to handle the serious problem of street children, 40 per cent of whom, according to the information available, had been forced to prostitute themselves. The Committee had also learned that out of that number, 30 per cent were HIV-positive, 40 per cent were drug addicts and 30 per cent had been simply left to fend for themselves in the streets.

The delegation said that the Government was aware of the situation and it had taken measures to improve it. Additional efforts were made to protect families and ameliorate their living conditions.

Asked about street gangs involving children, the delegation said that the Government had put in place a technical programme to resolve the problem and to correct the cause of street children. Many youth and children had been held in penitentiary institutions for belonging to a gang. A national plan of action had also been adopted to examine the family ties and original causes which led children to street lives.

An Expert remarked that a high percentage of Honduras' national income served to pay its foreign debt. The situation had also been exacerbated by the passage of Hurricane Mitch which had devastated development projects, requiring additional financial resources for reconstruction. Despite this, were there any major steps being taken by the Government to implement the poverty eradication strategy.

Was there a law on the detention and treatment of mentally ill persons, a Committee member asked.

In response, the delegation said that the law on domestic violence had been adopted in 1997 in order to prevent such violence. It was true that the national police had not been trained to deal with domestic violence because of the fact that it had been considered to be a private affair dealt with inside houses. However, at present police and prosecutors were trained and received information with the view of the systematic observance of the law.

Honduras spent 34 per cent of its annual national budget to service its foreign debt, the delegation confirmed. Honduras was one of the most indebted nations in the world. With regard to health, the Government had no intention to privatize health services. Although there were private clinics operating in the country, the Government had been strengthening the capacities of the health institutions run by the Government. In addition, measures had been taken to reform some of the health services. The health infrastructures had been improved; child and mother hospital services had been strengthened; and quality services in all health centres had been reinforced. Further, 200 environmental technicians had been trained to tackle pollution problems; however, many of them did not want to be posted outside the towns.

With regard to HIV/AIDS, the delegation said that Honduras had around 15,200 victims of AIDS and there were 46,000 orphans of AIDS. There was an institutional committee dealing with the problem. The national blood bank was protected from being infected by transmissible diseases. Other problems involved respiratory diseases, accidents and violence. With regard to reproductive health, there had been problems with the Catholic Church concerning the use of condoms. The cultural point of view of using condoms had been observed. In that connection, stability in the family was encouraged instead of multiple sexual contacts.

There was a special office that investigated corruption by public officials, the delegation said. Suspicion of such acts could be investigated by the procurator general of the Republic.

The structural adjustment policy had had positive and negative impacts on the economy, the delegation said. The positive aspect was that it had helped the country to balance between its macro- and micro-economic structures. The devaluation of the national currency had been part of the negative impact of the adjustment policy. There was an imbalance between the income and expenditure. The devaluation had also prompted an increase in taxes and the prices of foreign goods. In addition, 34 per cent of the overall national budget served to pay the foreign debt.

In Honduras there was a food security committee which made programmes and arrangements in that field, the delegation said. Through multilateral and bilateral relations, the country was receiving food and cereals which it preserved for future needs. Spain, for example, had donated wheat to Honduras and it had been confined to the food security committee.

Asked about the decline of child mortality, the delegation said although there were no recent figures on the issue, the trend was that the incident of child mortality had decreased. In addition, maternal mortality had also been reduced, thanks to the improvement of health services in the country. The number of medical staff in the rural areas had increased.

Replying to a question on the existence of a national housing programme, the delegation said that anything related to housing was to be found in the poverty reduction strategy programme which was run by the cabinet of the presidency.

Although licences were granted to mining companies, there was always opposition locally, the delegation said. Whether the application of granting the licence was published in a newspaper or not, it would receive resistance from local people. Honduras had only one national newspaper and the rest were local ones.

There were only two psychiatric hospitals in the country, the delegation said; one served for chronic mentally-ill persons while the second was used for out-patient mentally-ill persons.

Honduras was one of the Latin American countries which had raised the standard of its educational system, the delegation said. More and more students were remaining in schools for longer years; schools had been build to accommodate students in the rural areas, where the structural adjustment had limited access to education. The number of illiterate adults had been reduced through the literacy campaign. With regard to education in the mother tongue of the indigenous people, an expanded process of bilingual education was being implemented with assistance from experienced countries of the region in that matter.

There were no televised educational programmes, only ones on the radio, the delegation said. However, the Government was willing to work with any non-governmental organizations operating in the educational field.

The delegation said that it appreciated the fact that the Committee had waited 18 years for the initial report of Honduras. During that period, the country had been respecting the various international treaties to which it was a party. It had also made efforts to implement their provisions.



* *** *