Concerns about HO-L1191: Support to the Creation of Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDEs)

A statement from the Center for International Environmental Law and partners urging the United States to oppose a $20 million Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan (HO-L1191) intended to support the creation of Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDEs) in Honduras. The authors argue that the ZEDE legal framework creates undemocratic governance, violates human and indigenous rights, and contradicts the IDB's own operational policies on transparency, environmental safeguards, and involuntary resettlement.

• The ZEDE administrative structure is characterized by a lack of democratic oversight, where governance is managed by the Committee for the Adoption of Best Practices (CABP), a group of appointed businessmen and intellectuals. The CABP appoints a Technical Secretary to act as CEO, and in areas with low population density, ZEDEs can be imposed on communities without a referendum.
• ZEDEs possess extensive autonomy that allows them to operate independently of standard Honduran national systems, including the ability to establish their own judicial systems using foreign judges, maintain private police forces, and create independent educational curricula and fiscal regimes.
• The ZEDE legal framework potentially undermines a wide array of constitutional rights for citizens within the zones. The law specifies only a limited number of Constitutional Articles to be fully enforced, leaving the status of rights such as habeas corpus, freedom of expression, and the right to life unclear.
• The authors claim the ZEDE model violates international law, specifically regarding the rights of indigenous peoples to consultation under ILO 169 and UNDRIP, as well as broader human rights to self-determination and property rights.
• The proposed IDB loan HO-L1191 is alleged to conflict with several of the Bank's own operational policies, including OP-102 (Access to Information), OP-703 (Environment and Safeguard Compliance), and OP-710 (Involuntary Resettlement), due to the ZEDEs' lack of transparency and prioritization of land expropriation.
• The ZEDE project is described as inconsistent with the IDB's 2015-2018 country strategy for Honduras, which focuses on improving transparency, public administration, and social protections for those in extreme poverty.

APA

Alford-Jones, K., Carasik, L., & Spring, K. (2017). Concerns about HO-L1191: Support to the Creation of Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDEs). Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Memo_Concern_IDB_Honduran_ZEDE_Project.pdf

Chicago

Alford-Jones, Kelsey, Lauren Carasik, and Karen Spring. Concerns about HO-L1191: Support to the Creation of Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDEs). Center for International Environmental Law, 2017. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Memo_Concern_IDB_Honduran_ZEDE_Project.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Alford-Jones |first1=Kelsey |last2=Carasik |first2=Lauren |last3=Spring |first3=Karen |title=Concerns about HO-L1191: Support to the Creation of Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDEs) |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=25 August 2017 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Memo_Concern_IDB_Honduran_ZEDE_Project.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{alfordjones2017concerns, author = {Alford-Jones, Kelsey and Carasik, Lauren and Spring, Karen}, title = {{Concerns about HO-L1191: Support to the Creation of Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDEs)}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2017}, month = aug, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Memo_Concern_IDB_Honduran_ZEDE_Project.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }