The United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS) will assist the government of Honduras in the implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, in order to reinforce the national dialogue in the violence-hit Central American nation.
The announcement was made in Washington on Monday and follows a request made by Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez to the UN amid a series of anti-government protests that have been staged by tens of thousands of Hondurans across the country in recent days. The main demand of demonstrators is the resignation of the president.
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"The dialogue will involve all sectors of Honduran society, it aims to strengthen democratic institutions and comprehensively combat impunity and corruption," the OAS said in an official statement. It also announced that its representatives in the country along with a special commission will work jointly with national authorities to weather the crisis.
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"The dialogue will involve all sectors of Honduran society, it aims to strengthen democratic institutions and comprehensively combat impunity and corruption." The OAS said in an official statement and announced that its representatives in the country along with an especial commission will work jointly with national authorities to weather the crisis.
The terms of the international assistance were agreed upon by the Secretary-General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, Honduran Foreign Minister Arturo Corrales and the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman.
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The widespread unrest among Houndurans came after the country's political opposition accused the president of having received nearly US$90 million out of more than US$300 million that was allegedly skimmed from Honduras's public health insurance system for his 2013 election campaign.
The political instability has worsened in Honduras since the 2009 U.S.-backed coup that ousted former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. The security situation in the Central American nation has since spiraled out of control, as Honduras now has the world's highest homicide rate at 90.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to official figures.