EU Delegation Honduras – Strengthening ongoing support for information access

Honduras, July 2017 – Building on the EU Delegation’s long-standing work to strengthen access to information in Honduras, Media4Democracy deployed a technical assistance mission in July to train journalists to use open data and to increase the effectiveness of the Government’s open information platform and relevant institution.  

With years of support from the EU Delegation, Honduras has advanced access to information including adopting the 2006 Transparency and Access to Public Information Law (LTAIP) and with the establishment of the Instituto de Acceso a la Información Pública (IAIP) which is the host of the public access portal.

Even so, real-word results lagged as the IAIP public portal remained difficult to use and journalists lacked knowledge of the site and the skills use open data in their work.  

Two Media4Democracy Experts deployed to Honduras in July 2017.  One Expert conducted intensive data-journalism training for 16 journalists. The other supporting the Institute for Access to Public Information (IAIP). IAIP to improve the technical functions and ease of public use of its information portal (http://portalunico.iaip.gob.hn/).

Strengthening real-world results of EU Policy in Honduras

The data journalism workshops brought rapid results when participants published stories using data techniques learnt during the workshop. One journalist working for El Heraldo, one of the most popular newspapers in Honduras, began a data journalism project in his newsroom which has produced two stories so far (see links below).

Mentoring by Media4Democracy Experts has continued since July as journalists are supported to sharpen their skills and produce more stories; and the IAIP assisted with ongoing technical and process improvements to enhance their internal function and to raise citizen and civil society engagements.  

A second mission will deploy in February 2018, during which more journalists will be trained during in-house intensives at forerunning newspapers at El Heraldo and La Tribuna.  Work will also continue with the IAIP to assess progress and look at future ways to enhance the Institutes services.  

Within the political changes and legislative shifts in Honduras, Media4Democracy and the EU Delegation will also consider how to continue support for access to information and more broadly freedom of information as near- mid- and longer-term strategies.  

Two data journalism stories by Denis Dominguez and published at El Heraldo:

http://www.elheraldo.hn/tegucigalpa/1104864-466/bajan-homicidios-pero-la-capital-sigue-en-el-primer-lugar   
http://www.elheraldo.hn/tegucigalpa/1104624-466/radiograf%C3%ADa-de-la-violencia-en-la-capital-de-honduras-interactivo