Honduras: Partnering with Mayors to Win Regional Priorities for Rural Communities

In Francisco Morazán, COFOA-Honduras has united local communities, mayors, and legislators to advance two regional priorities: a regional health facility serving the north of the department, and the paving of a 17-kilometer stretch of highway in the south.

In July, COFOA leaders convened a meeting with 13 mayors from northern Morazán. They agreed to work together to equip the Centro Materno Infantil in Talanga to function as a regional polyclinic offering maternity and specialty care. They also backed a new center for kidney patients, who now must travel to Tegucigalpa for dialysis, and secured land for its construction. The mayors agreed to prepare a formal public statement calling on the National Congress to fund the facility’s construction and operation.

In the south of the department, COFOA leaders are pressing to pave a highway serving 31 rural communities. In July, working with local mayors, they won a public commitment from the Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation to make the road the third stage of a multi-million-dollar investment intended to reduce isolation, expand opportunities for trade and agricultural production, and improve access to basic services.

Together, these campaigns illustrate the growing ability of COFOA leaders to work across municipal boundaries, partner with mayors, and win regional solutions to problems that no single community could solve alone.

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