Our plan in Ecuador

Plan is working at the grassroots level in Ecuador to help communities make real and lasting change, so that their children have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Plan has worked in Ecuador (population 13 million) in South America since 1963 and currently has programs in over 1000 communities in ten of Ecuador's 21 provinces which aim to address the following issues affecting children:

• Malnutrition
• High incidences of preventable diseases especially childhood diseases
• Lack of proper sanitation, access to clean water and poor hygienic behavior
• Insufficient access to health care and immunisations
• HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections especially amongst young people
• Poor quality primary school education
• Widespread child labor
• Violence against children
• Child abandonment due to increased migration
• Adult-centered culture which excludes children in decision-making processes

Plan's programs and strategies to address these issues include:

Education

Immunisation of pregnant women and children and training community health volunteers in prevention of childhood illnesses aims to ensure the good health of children even before they are born. Plan also promotes birth registration which helps ensure child rights and access to government services such as education and healthcare. To ensure access to quality education, teacher training and school supplies are provided to primary schools. Once children reach adolescence, raising their awareness of their sexual and reproductive health aims to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancy. To help communities reach sustainability, clean drinking water and household sanitation services, environmental protection and small loans to help build businesses and increase family incomes.

Child rights and protection

Major activities of this program include supporting best practices for the elimination of child abuse, the inclusion of children in special circumstances into the mainstream, eliminating under-age child labour, and improving the working conditions for adolescents aged 15 years and above.

Child participation

Major activities include increasing the self-esteem and leadership skills of children and adolescents, formation of child rights community councils, ensuring coordination between state institutions and children's organisations, and strengthening the capacity of communities to protect children and adolescents.

Resource mobilisation and institutional strengthening

Major activities include developing an institutional structure and processes which support child rights-based programming, mobilising local resources, expanding staff members' abilities to facilitate children's rights-based human development, and facilitating long-lasting relationships between Ecuadorian children and their sponsors through communications and development education.

Country Facts

Country	Ecuador	Australia
Flag
Population	13 Million	21 Million
Language	Spanish (official), Quechua	English
Capital	Quito	Canberra
GDP per capita (USD/year)	2,322	$37,300
Life expectancy	74.5	81.5
Access to safe drinking water	94%	100%
Literacy	91%	100%
Source:	United Nations: Millennium Development Goals Report 2006