Launch of the Honduras Accountability Audit Platform (RCH)

Montevideo, October 22, 2021.

The Unit for Financing, Transparency, and Oversight of Political Parties and Candidates (UFTF) officially launched the platform "Rendición de Cuentas Honduras" (Accountability Honduras), a tool that contributes to transparency, inclusion, and accountability in electoral processes nationwide, while also serving as a mechanism to strengthen democracy, prevent, and manage conflicts of interest. This platform is aligned with SDG 16, which aims to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all by reducing corruption and bribery and creating accountable and transparent institutions.

On October 22, the Unit for Financing, Transparency, and Oversight of Political Parties and Candidates (UFTF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) officially launched the Rendición de Cuentas Honduras (RCH) platform, a tool that simplifies and streamlines the registration of financial operations of the Obligated Subjects. This tool provides truthful, reliable, and timely information on operations conducted during the election campaign period by the Obligated Subjects, enabling the UFTF to carry out oversight of the origin, amount, destination, and application of public and private resources from the Obligated Subjects.

The development of this modern platform was made possible thanks to the technical support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and financial support from the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) and the Infosegura Program, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It was developed for the Unit for Financing, Transparency, and Oversight of Political Parties and Candidates (UFTF), also known as the Clean Politics Unit, and its beneficiaries include the various Obligated Subjects and UFTF officials.

Sofis Solutions is the company responsible for developing this platform through the "Consultancy for the design, development, and implementation of a technological platform for accountability for the Unit for Financing, Transparency, and Oversight (UFTF)".

The platform has three fundamental objectives:

• Promote transparency regarding the financing of electoral campaigns.
• Assist the Obligated Subjects in accrediting their Financial Responsible and bank accounts, and in submitting their income and expense declarations.
• Support officials of the Unit for Financing, Transparency, and Oversight of Political Parties and Candidates (UFTF) in the oversight of submitted declarations.

The Rendición de Cuentas Honduras (RCH) platform includes the following modules:

• Obligated Subjects (SO) Module: This module allows Obligated Subjects to carry out the accreditation process for their Financial Responsible and bank account(s) (in the case of Political Parties and Alliances, multiple accounts). It also allows them to declare income, expenses or non-expenses, close the file, and track the status of their file.
• Unit for Financing, Transparency, and Oversight of Political Parties and Candidates (UFTF) Module: This module assists UFTF officials in overseeing the declarations submitted by the Obligated Subjects. Through this module, UFTF officials can maintain system users, grant permissions and assign access roles to different functionalities, as well as initialize elections and configure specific parameters, campaign limits, and political entities.

You can learn more about the functionalities and components of the RCH platform through the following video: https://youtu.be/IHMCS8jV3yo.

During the event, Lawyer Alva Rivera Rodríguez, Coordinating Commissioner of the UFTF, highlighted: "The Rendición de Cuentas Honduras platform is a software application designed for political parties, candidates, where they can use technology to register the financing used in electoral campaigns. We offer the country a system that represents progress in transparency and accountability within the electoral system in Honduras. It optimizes the process of submitting financial reports by political parties and candidates, allows effective monitoring of the uncertain origin of funds used by political organizations, and will enable society to be informed more swiftly about oversight findings and results."

Meanwhile, Mr. Richard Barathe, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Honduras, stated: "... Transparency in electoral processes is fundamental to fostering trust, legitimacy, and respect for rules in electoral contests. Therefore, the UFTF plays a central role in mitigating illicit campaign financing and supporting the important fight against corruption to guarantee respect for citizens' will expressed through their votes. (...) The platform is highly important because it allows this information to be captured in a friendly, digital, and timely manner. As UNDP, we support these institutional strengthening processes that contribute to reducing digital gaps and progressively strengthen reporting capabilities, accountability, and also the capacity of citizens to demand this type of information."

The Rendición de Cuentas Honduras (RCH) Platform will be a fundamental tool for transparency and accountability processes nationwide, helping to strengthen democracy, prevent and manage conflicts of interest, and move towards a culture of peace for upcoming elections.

This initiative is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, which seeks to facilitate access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.