Project assistance completion report for strategic planning and technical support (SPATS) 522-0269

The Jackson Plan, the output of a 1983 National Bipartisan Commission headed by Henry Kissinger, resulted in sharp increases in assistance to Honduras and other Central American countries. The project served its purpose well, providing a mechanism to handle the huge increase in funding that occurred in the 1980s, and enabling USAID and the GOH to maximize development impact from the use of those funds. This is seen in the fact that a significant part of the Mission's program in 1995 continues to address problems identified and studied under the SPATS project. The project had two components: policy studies and TA. Under the first, several studies, assessments, and feasibility studies were carried out covering: municipal law development; government auditing; environmental development; analysis of census statistics; program strategy formulation; zero-based budgeting; customs systems; rice processing agribusiness; and economic policy. The studies component ended in 1988 because its targeted number of studies already had been reached, and because the Policy Analysis and Implementation Project (5220325) started that year, which in effect carried on with the studies. In 1991, $330,000 was shifted to the TA component, which provided medium- and long-term TA to key government and private institutions. The services provided played a key role in bridging gaps between identification of specific needs for external expertise and the project design process. Experts assisted the Honduran Congress in developing laws that foster economic growth, financial development, and investment promotion, while experts from the U.S. Census Bureau assisted the GOH in analyzing statistics. Technical experts were also recruited to assume key positions in the GOH and USAID to design and implement projects under the expanded USAID assistance program. Other regions of the world that are opening up to USAID or that are experiencing sharp increases in resource levels may want to consider the project as a model.