Executive Decree PCM-08-2022 establishing the Solidarity Network Program

Creation of the Program. The Solidary Network Program is created, which executes projects assigned or pre-designed by the State Secretariat in the Office of Social Development, of the actions aimed at progressively improving the living conditions and access to social protection mechanisms for households living in conditions of poverty and extreme poverty, having technical, financial and administrative autonomy, in the capacity of a Deconcentrated and Autonomous Entity, responsible for the design, execution, supervision, and administration of social projects and those assigned to it, as a result of the formalization of contracts, agreements, external financing agreements, donations, inter-institutional agreements or direct designation by the decision-making bodies of the Government of the Republic of Honduras.

The Solidary Network Program shall have, within the limits of its competencies in the execution of projects, a role of coordination with different governmental institutions, external cooperation and civil society, with high contents of solidarity to order the set of comprehensive actions and access to other existing interventions, focusing investments through proximate variables and a predictive model of monthly per capita spending for rural households in the country with data from the Observatory of Poverty and Vulnerability, calculating the incidence of extreme poverty by village, which shall be ordered in ascending form within each municipality to generate a list that identifies villages, neighborhoods and communities defining the territorial service area defined as rural poverty and urban poverty.

The actions described in the preceding article shall lead to a household survey, which shall be conducted by The Observatory of Poverty and Vulnerability, the same to be delivered without undue delay to the Solidary Network Program.

The Solidary Network Program is based on a "comprehensive policy with an assets-based approach" for poverty reduction. The assets-based approach is the only one that can generate income and contains two basic action premises. 1- The prioritization and targeting of actions in the poorest groups and regions; 2- The need for interventions targeted in a specific territory to be combined harmoniously and integrally.

The Solidary Network Program applies the concept of integrality through investment in the population with the greatest needs, fulfilling three objectives:

• 1)

  to focus on the root causes of poverty,

• 2)

  to contribute to poverty reduction by generating assets; and,

• 3)

  to reduce the inequality gap between poor and rich by expanding the assets and opportunities of the poor.

General Objective. The General Objective of the Solidary Network Program is: To coordinate and execute programs and projects derived from public policies and designed by the State Secretariat in the Office of Social Development, aimed at progressively improving living conditions and human development, especially for families in extreme poverty.

Specific Objectives. The Specific Objectives of the Solidary Network Program are: 1. To develop an ordered and coordinated system of progressive, staged actions, in a gradual and comprehensive manner, aimed at improving living conditions and human development, generating diverse economic activities. 2. To improve the impact of dispersed interventions in different institutions through the articulation and complementarity of coordinated actions based on targeting and programs that have an impact on the eradication of poverty and extreme poverty. 3. To strengthen the regulatory framework of social protection in the country, defining a first basic package of projects in order to expand full coverage of the population in extreme poverty and ensure a first floor of social protection. 4. To contribute to transparency in the use of resources of social programs, through the implementation of accountability mechanisms or oversight structures. 5. To ensure through the implementation of methods and coordination the right of access to quality services in the sectors of education and health, to populations targeted within the framework of the Solidary Network, providing adequate incentives to strengthen the demand for these services. 6. To build organizational capacities in various areas or sectors that facilitate greater strength in the management of their needs, seeking legalization and strengthening activities that allow them to manage projects and services. 7. To design and implement programs and projects that seek the inclusion of the population in extreme poverty through the development of their productive potential. 8. To formulate social programs and projects in accordance with the guidelines of the Solidary Network Program with the necessary studies for social projects that do not generate income or economic benefits.

Activities of the Program. The Solidary Network Program develops the following activities for the purposes of its objectives: 1. To focus investments on the axes of: social protection, health, education, human strengthening, infrastructure and environment, generating income opportunities, development of local capacities and protecting the most vulnerable groups. 2. To coordinate with different institutions, budgets, programs and projects, the forms of execution and different activities in the targeted communities. 3. To have installed capacity that ensures execution of resources in an agile, transparent and timely manner for the arrival of investments in a gradual and staged manner to families in poverty and extreme poverty. 4. To have a coordinated structure of local liaisons, partners, technical personnel and other actors necessary for the comprehensive approach to actions. 5. To contribute to the improvement of nutrition, feeding and hygiene habits and other systematic practices of preventive health, such as decentralized health services, mobile health caravans or itinerant health teams, ensuring personalized health care through basic packages. 6. To develop information, training, and administrative capacity plans for education and communication on pregnancy prevention and prevention of STIs/HIV/AIDS in adolescents, mental health, human rights and others that may be required to build human capacities in households properly targeted within the framework of the Solidary Network. 7. To provide other entities with appropriate mechanisms of training, technical and financial assistance to potential executors of productive activities, as well as financing instruments or organizations for productivity. 8. To contribute to the improvement of educational and health infrastructure, water and basic sanitation, as well as access to services in an innovative manner such as distance education packages and others. 9. To create spaces for civil society participation, support for the creation and strengthening of grassroots organizations. 10. To promote small construction projects and rehabilitation of housing with methods chosen in the community that are self-construction in nature to create a sense of effort and belonging. 11. To position the issue of solidarity in the population and ensure the co-responsibility of families, communities and municipalities in its execution. 12. To constitute itself as a channel to manage the care of groups in special conditions of risk and vulnerability by promoting social awareness and solidarity for these peoples. 13. To oversee the strengthening of the Solidary Network Program as executor of projects. 14. Others that may be assigned to it by the Presidency of the Republic through the State Secretariat in the Office of Social Development.

Program Guidelines. The Solidary Network Program responds to the following guidelines: Integrality: That the actions executed by state and non-governmental entities be carried out in an ordered and coordinated manner among themselves, benefiting from the complementarity or synergies presented by different projects, basic packages and programs. Transparency: The actions of the Solidary Network Program shall emphasize the promotion and practice of transparency and the right of access to public information, while guaranteeing at the same time the principles of accountability, legality, and efficiency of public administration. To this end, it shall ensure the implementation of clear and objective communication policies that promote a culture of accountability. Citizen Participation: The following shall participate within the framework of the Solidary Network Program: central government, local governments, beneficiary communities and civil society organizations in the definition of priorities for attention and, where applicable, may contribute resources to support these efforts. This participation is achieved at the different levels of territorial operation established for the operational structure of the Solidary Network Program. Social Oversight: Through this principle, citizens shall have the right to monitor and oversee the management of public affairs, in order to verify the transparency, efficiency, effectiveness, equity, compliance and quality, among others, of all actions of the Solidary Network. The operational structure of the Solidary Network has established instances of social oversight through its different levels, one of the most important being the Community Committee, representing the community. Equity: To reduce existing inequality among population groups, the Solidary Network Program shall use the tools of targeting and selection of beneficiaries from an information system as an instrument of social policy that allows closing existing gaps, incorporating into public services the poorest and most excluded population.

Operational Phases: For the implementation of the Solidary Network Program, the following phases have been defined for greater effectiveness:

• 1)

  Targeting of Municipalities and villages;

• 2)

  Census of households in targeted villages;

• 3)

  Selection and Registration of Beneficiaries;

• 4)

  Verification of beneficiaries and document collection;

• 5)

  Formation of the Departmental Technical Council (CTD);

• 6)

  Consolidation of institutional offerings;

• 7)

  Definition of Agreements with Municipal Mayors;

• 8)

  Signing of Agreements with Institutions at the Municipal Level;

• 9)

  Identification of community teams or organizations;

• 10)

  Organization of Community Assemblies;

• 11)

  Signing of Agreement with Beneficiary Families;

• 12)

  Fulfillment and Verification of co-responsibilities;

• 13)

  Delivery of services and/or basic packages of the Solidary Network.

Within the framework of the Solidary Network Program, all entities that make up the Centralized and Decentralized Administration of the State, through the signing of inter-institutional agreements, shall direct sufficient resources to the axes of the Solidary Network Program and shall promote other support as required, in order to facilitate in a coordinated, ordered and timely manner the execution of activities in the intervention areas of the Solidary Network.

Functions of the Program. The Solidary Network Program shall have the following functions:

• 1)

  To identify through an information system the basic needs of communities found in situations of extreme poverty and relative poverty, properly targeted;

• 2)

  To support the economic, inclusive, gradual and progressive development of participating families that are targeted in extreme poverty;

• 3)

  To design, implement and evaluate plans and projects aimed at reducing the risks of families, through the development of human strengthening in populations targeted in extreme poverty in order to improve their quality of life, as well as strengthen their productive inclusion;

• 4)

  To be the Executor of social policies and articulator of projects oriented to security in the axes of social protection, health, education, human strengthening, infrastructure and environment, with an integrality approach through the use of innovation tools in communities targeted in poverty and extreme poverty;

• 5)

  To collaborate in the provision of goods and services of government entities, Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation Organizations, Public Service Entities, among others, based on the effective demands of the population in situations of poverty or extreme poverty in accordance with the budget allocated for this purpose;

• 6)

  To develop basic packages that comprehensively allow or guarantee intervention in communities targeted in extreme poverty;

• 7)

  To develop a Monitoring and Evaluation system of the actions that offering entities commit to carrying out;

• 8)

  To conduct and keep updated the Registry of participants, in such a way that it can permanently measure advances in the fight against poverty. This registry process shall be conducted in contact with families, households, villages, municipalities and departments so that they may express their effective demands;

• 9)

  To promote social protection from a comprehensive and inclusive approach in accordance with the life cycle in the targeted population;

• 10)

  To develop a system of management and impact indicators that allow measuring the levels of satisfaction of demand and verifying that programs and projects are effective in reducing poverty and extreme poverty;

• 11)

  To execute programs and projects designated for the development of social inclusion in the country, based on principles of transparency, objectivity, inclusion and efficiency;

• 12)

  To respect and comply with transparency guidelines established in the Constitution of the Republic, International Agreements and Treaties and other laws;

• 13)

  Others that may be assigned to it by the Presidency of the Republic and/or the Secretary of State in the Office of Social Development.

To achieve the objective of its creation, the Solidary Network Program, as a deconcentrated and autonomous entity of the State Secretariat in the Office of Social Development, has its own Project Coordination Unit (UCP) as an executing unit, with an organizational structure with technical, operational and administrative capacities, with sufficient capacity to operate transparently, resources necessary for the fulfillment of its purposes and objectives efficiently and which stands out not only in coordination with different line institutions, but also in local coordination and with external cooperation and civil society organizations. TITLE II OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE SOLIDARY NETWORK PROGRAM.

Organization of the Program. The Solidary Network Program is organized for the performance of its functions in the following manner:

• 1)

  Executive Directorate;

• 2)

  General Secretariat;

• 3)

  Legal Department;

• 4)

  Unit of Audit and Internal Control;

• 5)

  Unit of Planning and Management Evaluation;

• 6)

  Administrative Management;

• 7)

  Sub-management of Human Resources;

• 8)

  Communications Unit;

• 9)

  Others that may be created through regulations, bylaws or laws. The attributions and faculties of each of the internal units that make up the Solidary Network Program shall be those established in this Decree and respective regulations, bylaws or manuals that may be issued for the purpose of perfecting the margin of action of the entity.

Functions of the Executive Directorate. The Functions and Attributions of the Executive Directorate are the following:

• 1)

  To ensure coordination and articulation with entities related to social and productive matters as appropriate, for the proper functioning of the projects assigned to it;

• 2)

  To manage the necessary resources for operation, within the framework of its competencies;

• 3)

  To oversee the proper functioning of the Programs and Projects executed by the Solidary Network;

• 4)

  To dictate the policies and strategic guidelines for the fulfillment of the objectives of the Solidary Network Program;

• 5)

  To supervise the fulfillment and execution of the mission and vision;

• 6)

  To oversee the compliance with physical and financial execution levels in the execution of projects and strategic plans;

• 7)

  To maintain constant and transparent communication with the Secretary of State in the Office of Social Development and the Presidency of the Republic, in order to keep the President informed of projects and strategic lines;

• 8)

  To approve internal regulations and manuals that may be necessary to ensure the achievement of the purposes for which it was created;

• 9)

  To approve the Annual Operating Plan and the Budget;

• 10)

  To order and approve the contracting of audits of the Solidary Network, being required to review and approve reports generated by such audits;

• 11)

  To contract and rescind the contracts of consultants of the Solidary Network Program in compliance with applicable regulations;

• 12)

  To authorize and execute contracts for the acquisition of works, consulting services, services other than consulting services and other contracts necessary to achieve the purposes of the Solidary Network;

• 13)

  To establish the appropriate directives and guidelines for the Executive Directorate; and, 14. Other functions that lead to the achievement of the objective for which it was created.

The Executive Director is the highest authority of the Solidarity Network Program, who is appointed by the President of the Republic, who may remove him from his position following efficiency parameters or according to the Program's needs determinations.

To be Executive Director, the following requirements must be met:

• 1)

  Be over 30 years of age;

• 2)

  Be of Honduran nationality;

• 3)

  Be in full enjoyment of their civil rights;

• 4)

  Be of recognized honorability;

• 5)

  Have no pending accounts or matters with the Public Administration or the State of Honduras in general;

• 6)

  Not possess direct or indirect participation with concessionaires, contractors, and suppliers of the State;

• 7)

  Possess a university academic degree; and, 8. Possess verifiable professional experience in the execution of social projects.

The Executive Director may not be held by a person who holds positions of popular election and other impossibilities established regarding State Secretaries in accordance with the General Law of Public Administration.

Within the framework of the organizational structuring of the Solidarity Network Program as an executing entity, the transfer is ordered of, together with its personnel, the Project Coordination Unit UCP, attached to the Sub-Secretariat of Social Integration of the Secretary of Development and Social Inclusion, so that said personnel and the components of the unit integrate into the structure of the Solidarity Network Program as Executor.

The personnel that make up the Solidarity Network Program must meet the requirements of suitability, capacity, and efficiency, creating for this purpose the corresponding manuals. TITLE III OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SOLIDARITY NETWORK PROGRAM

The Responsibility of the Executive Directorate. The Executive Director of the Solidarity Network Program, or whomever he delegates, assumes the technical responsibility for intersectoral coordination in all instances (central, departmental, and municipal). The Executive Directorate of the Solidarity Network guarantees the preparations prior to any action of the Network in the villages.

Commissioner of the Program. The Solidarity Network Program has an Ad Honorem Commissioner(a), who represents it in different public acts and other commitments before the Cabinet Council and other representations assigned by express designation of the Presidency of the Republic. At the territorial level, the Solidarity Network considers Departmental Technical Coordinators, Municipal Links, and community links.

The Central Technical Council: The Central Technical Council is made up at the central level by five qualified technicians from line institutions that may be acting as ad honorem technical units within the network or simply carry out the action in an integral and timely manner as well as advice and participation in the execution, being able to define among the main institutions: State Secretaries, Deconcentrated Organisms, Decentralized Organisms, and others that are considered appropriate.

The Central Technical Council periodically reviews and discusses the main aspects related to management: planning, execution, and evaluation of agreed actions and goals, financing, and the selection of models that facilitate access and quality of services; being able to invite to this Central Technical Council other actors from government and civil society, whose participation is considered relevant.

The Departmental Technical Council; It is organized with five key technicians from the State Secretaries, deconcentrated institutions, decentralized institutions, and others that are required, exercising their position ad honorem, and technicians from other sectors may be invited if they have relevant participation in the intervention zone of the Solidarity Network Program.

The Community Council or Social Oversight Groups: It is made up of a Community Council of five persons who act ad honorem, using as a basis existing community organizations or others to be formed with authorities from the location of intervention of the Solidarity Network Program, community leaders of organizations, and representatives of institutions or organizations with outstanding presence in said places of intervention. This Council supports the Community Teams in the activities and functions assigned to them. The Community Council represents the main means of social oversight of the Solidarity Network, so that households are responsible for certifying whether the programs comply with the benefits they offer, within a broad framework of plurality, inclusion, and respect.

Community Support Teams: In each village, through institutional promoters, community support teams are created or strengthened, Volunteers, Educators, Health User Committees, Volunteer Mothers, Health Guardians, Weight Monitors, Solidarity Tables, Municipal Council for Educational Development (COMDE), Local Education Committees of the Communities, and Others that exercise such activity ad honorem. TITLE IV ASSIGNMENT OF PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

The State Secretary in the Office of Finance is instructed to carry out actions immediately, continuing with the respective legal procedures before the corresponding International Organizations, with the purpose of formalizing contractual modifications in order to assign directly to the Solidarity Network Program as the executing organism of the projects currently executed by: the Strategic Agency for Productive, Environmental, and Social Projects of Honduras (AEPAS-H), the Secretary of Development and Social Inclusion (SEDIS), the National Service for Entrepreneurship and Small Business (SENPRENDE), and other executing units so that in the event there are projects financed with resources from international financing contracts, agreements, and arrangements, the necessary adjustments are made to said financial instruments in order to guarantee their correct execution.

The Solidarity Network Program, in its capacity as an executing organism, shall be subrogated, as of the execution of the modifications to the contracts, agreements, and external financing arrangements of the projects referred to in this Decree, in all work contracts, goods, and services derived from the portfolio of projects transferred under its administration. This subrogation shall be duly communicated by the Solidarity Network Program to each and every one of the contractors and suppliers.

The State Secretary in the Office of Finance is instructed to proceed immediately and in accordance with the current legal framework, to make budgetary transfers in favor of the Solidarity Network Program, in such a way that it assumes definitively the execution of all resources provided for in the contracts, agreements, and international financing arrangements, as well as the counterpart resources, for the execution of the following programs and projects executed by AEPAS-H, SEDIS, and SENPRENDE within the framework of the Solidarity Network Program: REF. NO. PROJECT NAME CURRENT EXECUTING UNIT 1 BID 3878/BL-HO Sustainable Forest Management Project AEPAS-H 2 BID 4449/BL-HO Improvement of Educational Quality for the Development of Employment Skills: Youth Project 3 BID 4619/BL-HO Program to Improve Management and Quality of Maternal-Neonatal Health Services 4 BID 4926/GN-HO Program for Restoration of Climate-Resilient Forests and Forestry for the Sustainability of Ecosystemic Services Related to Water BID GRT/GN-17771-HO 5 BID 4942/BL-HO Digital Transformation Project for Greater Competitiveness 6 BID ATN/OC-18869-HO Support Project for the National Digital Educational Transformation Program (PNTED) 7 BID 5289/BL-HO Support Project for Vulnerable Populations Affected by Coronavirus SEDIS 8 BID 5008/BL-HO Support Program for the Comprehensive Social Protection System 9 BID 3371/BL-HO Support Program for the Social Protection System 10 BID 3723/BL-HO Support Program for the Social Inclusion Network with Priority in the West 11 BCIE-2282 Bonus Relief Program for Vulnerable Families Affected by Natural Phenomena Resulting from Climate Change 12 BM 6401-HN Project on Integration of Social Protection 13 BM 6918-HN Additional Financing for the Social Protection Integration Project 14 BCIE 2248 Tranche B Program for Economic Reactivation through MSME in the Crisis and Post-COVID-19 Crisis in Honduras SENPRENDE

In addition to the Programs and Projects described in the preceding article, the following are allocated to the Solidarity Network Program:

• 1)

  Support Program for the Comprehensive System of Social Protection II – HO – L1230;

• 2)

  Growing Plan Program (formerly Raising with Love);

• 3)

  Scholarships oriented toward the education axis of the Solidarity Network Program;

• 4)

  Other programs and projects that may be assigned by the Presidency of the Republic or the Secretary of State in the Office of Social Development. TITLE V FINAL AND TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

The Executive Directorate of the Solidarity Network Program is instructed to timely adapt or create the manuals and regulations for the operability of projects that are currently under execution.

The National Directorate of State Property is instructed to carry out the administrative procedure for the transfer of property, furniture, and equipment acquired by the Strategic Agency for Productive, Environmental and Social Projects of Honduras (AEPAS-H), Coordinating Unit of Projects of the Secretariat of State in the Offices of Development and Social Inclusion (UCP-SEDIS), the National Service for Entrepreneurship and Small Business (SENPRENDE), and any other entity related to the programs and projects to the Solidarity Network Program. During this process, an audit of property, budget, and executions must be conducted; if irregularities are found, the corresponding legal proceedings shall be initiated.

The Secretariat of State in the Office of Finance is instructed to create the necessary budget for the operability of the Solidarity Network Program. The Administration of the Solidarity Network Program shall ensure that of the resources allocated to said program, only 10.0% shall be allocated to finance the operational and functioning expenses thereof; the Secretariat of State in the Office of Finance shall verify that this percentage is complied with.

During the transition processes and for the purpose of continuing with the normal development of the Programs and Projects executed through SENPRENDE and AEPAS-H, mentioned in Executive Decree PCM-05-2022 dated April 6, 2022, such institutions shall maintain their status as executing entities of the respective projects they currently execute, and shall perform the operational and administrative activities thereof in coordination with the Secretariat of State in the Office of Finance and international financial organizations, in order to effect an effective and efficient transfer of the programs and projects to the Solidarity Network Program. The Secretariat of State in the Office of Finance is authorized to timely proceed to carry out the necessary budgetary operations so that SENPRENDE and AEPAS-H have the budget allocated to the execution of the Programs and Projects while the transfer thereof to the Solidarity Network Program is being carried out.

Administrative and civil responsibility in the execution of resources allocated to the Solidarity Network Program corresponds to the organizational structure defined in Article 14 of this Decree; likewise, such resources shall be executed through the Integrated Financial Administration System (SIAFI) in order to guarantee proper use and transparency in the management of funds.

This Executive Decree enters into force as of the day of its publication in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta". Given at the Presidential House in the city of Tegucigalpa, municipality of the Central District, on the twenty-ninth (29) day of the month of April of two thousand twenty-two (2022). COMMUNICATE AND PUBLISH. IRIS XIOMARA CASTRO SARMIENTO PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC RODOLFO PASTOR DE MARÍA CAMPOS SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY RIXI RAMONA MONCADA GODOY SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF FINANCE TOMÁS EDUARDO VAQUERO MORRIS SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICES OF GOVERNANCE, JUSTICE AND DECENTRALIZATION EDUARDO ENRIQUE REINA GARCÍA SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICES OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION PEDRO JOSÉ BARQUERO TERCERO SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT JOSÉ MANUEL ZELAYA ROSALES SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF DEFENSE JOSÉ MANUEL MATHEU AMAYA SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF HEALTH LUCKY HALACH MEDINA ESTRADA SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICES OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT JAIME ATILIO RODRÍGUEZ SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF EDUCATION, BY LAW MELINA NATALIE ROQUE SANDOVAL SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ERICK MEDARDO TEJADA CARBAJAL SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF ENERGY LESLY SARAHÍ CERNA SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICES OF LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY LUIS GUILLERMO CHÉVEZ CONTRERAS SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF TOURISM, BY LAW OCTAVIO JOSÉ PINEDA PAREDES SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, WATER AND SANITATION