UN-DESA • UNDP Honduras • Central Bank of Honduras

Training workshop
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
10 July – 11 July 2012

DPAD, in close collaboration with UNDP's Office in Honduras and the Government of Honduras, held an initial training workshop on "Strengthening Macroeconomic and Social Policy Coherence through Integrated Macro-Micro Modelling". This was a follow up to a preliminary workshop held in Tegucigalpa on 20-21 December, 2010, when DPAD introduced the main goals of the project.

The workshop was attended by a group of government technical officials representing the Central Bank, the National Institute of Statistics and various Secretariats (Finance, Planning, Education, Health, Agriculture, Social Development, and Office of the President). Lecturers/researchers from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras and UNDP representatives also participated in the training.

The goals of the workshop and the project are to strengthen the analytical capabilities of government staff in order for them to more autonomously: a) evaluate the impact of global external shocks on national development, specifically in terms of meeting the MDGs; b) formulate strategies to mitigate and compensate the adverse effects of the said shocks; and c) be better able to anticipate and prepare for crises events, to avoid setback on the path to human development.

During the workshop DPAD:

• reviewed the main features of the project's integrated macro-micro modelling framework
• presented the steps to construct a new Honduran dataset to apply the modelling framework and agreed on steps to complete it
• explained examples of external-shocks and policy simulations through demonstrations using ISIM-MAMS (i.e. an Excel-based interface)
• discussed policy issues that would be addressed through policy simulations in order to elaborate policy notes