- Published by
- ACDI/VOCA
A learning brief on how co-created data and metrics initiatives in Honduras can shift local decision-making away from donor dependency toward locally driven evidence use.
It addresses how local actors use metrics and data to guide decisions on economic growth, partnership building and performance management.
It documents the TMS Transforming Market Systems activity's experience tackling a systemic problem: data in Honduras was abundant but siloed, analysed only in basic descriptive terms, and routinely outsourced to external consultants - reinforcing dependency rather than building local capacity.
The brief presents a co-creation model in which joint studies were developed with chambers of commerce, national universities and government ministries, with outcomes including a national economic observatory, a downgraded U.S. travel advisory for the Bay Islands and COVID-19 relief legislation for tourism enterprises.
Three strategic areas of system-level change are identified: bridging institutional silos, integrating data into decision-making and building trust in data quality.
Four practical recommendations follow - opening the research process from the outset, encouraging diverse viewpoints in interpretation, protecting rights and responsibilities through governance frameworks and communicating findings clearly to non-specialist audiences.