Advocacy Results In A Stronger Property Institute

May 19, 2017

The Honduran Property Institute has historically been one of the most corrupt and mismanaged government institutions. This mismanagement hurts thousands of Honduran families, who, because of weaknesses in the system are not able to register their homes and land as theirs . Without the legal title to their property, they live with the fear that everything they worked so hard to build could be taken from them.

In 2015, ASJ (formerly known as AJS) presented a baseline study evaluating the management and transparency of the Property Institute. The government institution scored a dismal 19%. But ASJ staff did more than criticize the poor management, they offered clear, detailed proposals about how the institution could improve. Now, two years later, ASJ has reevaluated the Property Institute and has found dramatic improvement. For the 2015-2016 period, the institute earned a score of 69%.

While there continues to be room for further reforms, a 50-point improvement is unprecedented and worthy of recognition.

One of ASJ’s proposals for the Property Institute was to keep detailed account of its budget, tracking how much the institution spent on different key processes. Prior to ASJ intervention, the institute had no record of how much it cost, on average to register a home or a vehicle, or to survey a plot of land.

After a year of consistently tracking this information, ASJ was able to demonstrate that the Property Institute had reduced the cost per land registration process by 53%. This tracking also provided valuable information into personnel needs. In the land surveying department, for example, personnel decreased by 31%, but production increased by 74% – a 150% total increase in productivity.

This information is essential for reforms. “With this process, both institutions seek to make the administration of the institution more efficient and transparent,” said José Noé Cortés, executive secretary of the Property Institute (IP).

“What we do not measure, we cannot improve,” added Ebal Díaz, who sits on the IP’s directors’ council.

Beyond more careful management within the Property Institute, ASJ also presented advancement in the services it offers. After years of land titles being sporadically delivered, if they were delivered at all, 10,000 titles were delivered in 2016, granting security to thousands of Honduran families.

“This report reflects the efforts carried by the Property Institute as well as the challenges to overcome in the system,” said Carlos Hernández, president of ASJ-Honduras,

“Nonetheless, we consider this the first step towards the construction of a more solid and efficient system in favor of the most vulnerable.”

A group of U.S. lawyers have been involved in reforms in the Property Institute for years. Find an interview on their view on advocacy and the substantive change they’ve seen.

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ASJ-US and ASJ-Canada Joint Statement on Honduran Elections

December 2, 2025

ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US Congratulate the Honduran People, Call for Full and Transparent Results As sister organizations committed to justice, peace and hope in Honduras, ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US extend our deepest congratulations to the people of Honduras on the peaceful conduct of their national elections on November 30, 2025. With the initial tally showing an extraordinarily close vote, we call on election authorities to do what is necessary to ensure a transparent count of the remaining ballots in order to guarantee public trust in the final outcome. We commend the Honduran voters for their dedication to democratic participation and their commitment to shaping the future of their country through civic engagement. We also recognize the efforts of electoral authorities, civil society organizations, the international community and the thousands of volunteer observers who worked to ensure a transparent, orderly, and secure process. We are especially proud of our sister organization, ASJ-Honduras, for their unwavering commitment to democracy demonstrated through their electoral observation efforts, their analysis activities, and their consistent call for a fair and orderly process. Now that such a process has been achieved, the work turns to counting the votes with accuracy and transparency. The results remain close, increasing the possibility of a contested result. We support the work of the election officials at the National Electoral Council to give Hondurans confidence in the final results by conducting their count with rigor and transparency. We remain hopeful that the spirit of peaceful participation in the democratic process embraced by the electorate will carry forward into the post-election period to come. We look forward to continued collaboration with ASJ-Honduras as we all work together toward a just and hopeful future for all Hondurans. Matthew Van Geest President, Board of Directors ASJ-Canada Russ Jacobs President, Board of Directors ASJ-US

Artisans of Fraternity, Guardians of Hope

November 28, 2025

A call to action for Honduras

November 2025 ASJ-US Statement about Honduran Elections

By Elizabeth Hickel • November 25, 2025

The Association for a More Justice Society-US Supports the Network to Defend Democracy; Calls for Free and Fair Elections in Honduras November 25, 2025

Context Updates on the 2025 Elections in Honduras

November 13, 2025

Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections

HOPE

By Elizabeth Hickel • November 12, 2025

Dear friend, I couldn’t stop looking at the picture. Of course, there had been plenty of inspiring photos from this summer’s Prayer Walk for Peace and Democracy. The sea of blue and white rising and falling as hundreds of thousands walked the Honduran hills through Tegucigalpa, flowing like a never-ending stream. Catholic nuns praying their rosaries alongside Pentecostals dancing in the streets. But the picture that still knocks me flat is the closeup. The one of the two men standing side by side (picture enclosed). They are exhausted, and the shorter collapses into the taller. The tears mostly hold joy and relief, but they are mingled with something darker. After all, there had been threats—promises of harm done to themselves and their loved ones if they led their followers through the streets of Honduras in prayer. Despite the fear and intimidation, Pastor Gerardo Irías and Monsignor José Vicente Nácher forged ahead. They knew Honduras needed unity and, above all, prayer before the looming November 2025 presidential elections. As an ASJ supporter, you know that these kinds of threats aren’t out of the ordinary, and your support has helped slow and reverse violence in Honduras. Today, I am writing to share a way you can continue standing with brave Hondurans like Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José in hope. The Evangelical pastor and the Catholic archbishop put the word out as widely as they could to their churches, hoping to mobilize 20,000 to walk and pray. Instead, an estimated 230,000 walked in the capital of Tegucigalpa alone. It was a historic moment. And without your past support for ASJ, it may have never happened. After all, two years prior, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José didn’t even know each other’s names. They first met in 2023 at ASJ’s offices. They were two of many civil society leaders convened by ASJ to discuss safeguarding democracy– especially before the election in 2025. It was at that meeting that they shook each other’s hand and learned each other’s name. It was at that meeting–and many subsequent meetings–where old religious prejudices began to be replaced by trust and mutual affection. So, when the moment came this summer to act, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José knew what they had to do. And they knew that they had to do it together.