WASHINGTON, June 30, 2011 - The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved today a $32.8 million interest-free credit to Honduras that will expand access to land titling, property records and transactions. This will be part of an improved, fully integrated and decentralized system for property administration.
The objective of the second phase of the Honduras Land Administration Program is to continue strengthening property rights in the Central American country through the modernization of the legal framework, institutional strengthening and the development of a land administration system.
"The approval of this project by the Board of Directors of the World Bank is the result of a joint effort that has underpinned the World Bank support the government of Honduras," said Honduran Minister of Finance William Chong Wong. "This project is expected to legalize an estimated 50.000 titles that will serve as guarantees for e a similar number of families."
This project will benefit a large number of urban and rural families in selected municipalities in the departments of Choluteca, Copan, Cortes, Comayagua, Colon, El Paraiso, Francisco Morazan, Gracias a Dios, Olancho and Yoro. Women are also expected to benefit from the recognition of their property rights, particularly through the provision of new titles. The project will also benefit the members of at least 25 indigenous communities in La Mosquitia (Miskito communities) through the delimitation, demarcation, collective titling, and registration of their ancestral lands which will promote the recognition of land rights and natural resources management.
The second phase of the project has five components:
• Policy and institutional strengthening for land administration,
• cadastral survey and regularization
• Demarcation of protected areas
• Strengthening Miskito peoples’ land rights
• Project management and monitoring and evaluation.
"An improvement of the land administration system involves gradual changes in the legal and institutional framework and requires a strong involvement of municipalities", said World Bank Director for Central America Carlos Felipe Jaramillo. "We hope that by strengthening the capacity of land administration agencies at the local level and increasing access to these services for the majority of Hondurans, it will be possible to achieve greater efficiency and transparency in land transactions."
The World Bank continues to support the government of Honduras in its efforts towards better development and social equity for its people. The approval of this credit is a demonstration of this support.
The $32.8 million credit for the Honduras Second Land Administration Project has a maturity of 20 years, including a grace period of 10 years.
