Ecuador

Ecuador faces a profound social, economic, political, democratic, and security crisis. One of our primary concerns is the fragility of the rule of law, corruption, and the lack of recognition of the rights of traditionally excluded and violated groups. Along these lines, the threats against human rights defenders (HRD) and nature defenders (ND) are problems of considerable concern.

Although the Ecuadorian government has worked to remedy these problems, several United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms continue to express concerns. These concerns relate to the security conditions in which HRDs carry out their activities, particularly in defending economic, social, and cultural rights, the environment, and the rights to land and other natural resources.

We have been working in Ecuador since 2016. Our program focuses on strengthening the capacities of CSOs, HRD, and ND. We also provide institutional support through our micro-grants programme and promote the defence of human rights through networking. We work in the Coast, Sierra, and Amazon regions. We collaborate with social organisations, groups, and projects developed in Pichincha, Azuay, Loja, Santo Domingo, Bolívar, and Guayas. In addition, we can expand our action to Esmeraldas, Sucumbíos, Orellana, Manabí, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, Zamora, and Los Ríos, and also coordinate with networks and organisations that work nationally.

Our main goal is to support CSOs and HRDs working on defending and protecting the human rights of historically violated and discriminated groups, such as indigenous peoples and nationalities, women, youth, environmental defenders, and community and independent media communicators.