Ecuador

RET’s Interventions

In 2005, RET opened its first office in Quito’s Latin American region by establishing channels for integration and promoting education. RET provided opportunities to young displaced youth, particularly Colombian refugees, to reduce the education gap regarding accessibility, safety and quality, and post-primary education. It also provided emergency support for the early recovery of internally displaced populations and Colombian refugees at the border between Ecuador and Colombia in Lago Agrio, San Lorenzo, Tuclan, Quito, and Ibrra. 
RET programs between 2011 and 2015 focused on efforts to eradicate child labor in Lago Agrio, Esmeraldas, san Lorenzo, Atacames y Quito. RET provided programs to prevent school drop-out, Technical and vocational training for worker adolescents, access to basic services and social programs, youth initiatives and life skills, and sensitization to parents. 

During the fiscal year 2016, RET started implementing a multi-year program in the northern border cities of Lago Agrio and Esmeraldas, strengthening the capacities of vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees and public institutions’ ability to accomplish refugees’ and asylum seekers’ integration and self-reliance in Ecuador. The program sought to increase the self-reliance of vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees in Ecuador based on cross-sectoral interventions to humanitarian assistance, protection mechanisms, livelihoods, and socio-cultural integration. 
RET in Ecuador also participated in the following inter-institutional networks: The Third Youth Environmental Conference “Youthab”, the Gender Board, the Board for Violence Against Children and Adolescents, the Human Mobility Board in Esmeraldas, the Livelihoods Board in Lago Agrio, the Education Board in UIO and Esmeraldas and the Durable Solutions Committee in three localities.
Moreover, RET implemented programs to build the capacity and ensure the Rights of Children and Youth in Disaster Risk Management and Emergency Situations”. The program involved the creation and implementation of a virtual training tool along with a government guide (“Actions for Resilience of Children and Youth”) to build the capacity of key government, non-government and international entities responsible for the protection of the rights of children and youth during disasters and emergencies.
A pilot program was also applied in 16 schools in Ecuador and led to the development of guidelines and methodologies through field assessments of “codes of school life,” which promote a culture of peace in Four Cantons of the Northern Border in Sucumbíos. Based on these results, a guiding document on building such “codes of school life” was published in a participatory manner. The same process was replicated in the Province of Esmeraldas throughout 14 schools, to provide “Technical Assistance in the Field Assessment and Participatory Development of Codes of School Life” and eventually, the program was expanded to reach 50 additional schools in the affected rural communities of Muisne (Bolívar, Chamanga, Daule, Galera, Quingue, Salima and San Gregorio).

On April 2016, a massive earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale struck the northern coast of the country, leaving 668 dead, eight missing, and 16’600 injured. A state of emergency was declared, and humanitarian efforts were put in place. Immediately, RET activated its emergency response and coordination mechanism with the Education and Protection Cluster in coordination with UNICEF and local institutions such as the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Social and Economic Inclusion, and the Secretary of Risk Management. 
RET implemented a program to raise the awareness of adolescents and youths on the consequences of earthquakes. Participants identified weaknesses and opportunities in their communities regarding three main themes: Education, water and sanitation, and living conditions. RET reached an agreement with UNICEF to be a direct implementer for an emergency recovery program funded by ECHO, which focused on water and sanitation, disaster risk reduction, and protection.
More recently, Latin America’s largest mass population migration in history has impacted Ecuador, with some 547,000 Venezuelans have entered Ecuador through the Colombian border (UNHCR, 2018). 
RET, operating from its main offices in the provinces of Sucumbíos, Esmeraldas, and Pichincha, provided humanitarian assistance to asylum seekers and refugees, enabled their socio-cultural integration into the host communities, and provided emergency care for displaced children and adolescents in different localities throughout Ecuador. RET was also involved in strengthening and supporting adolescents and young people and protecting children and adolescents by integrating them into the local education system. 

RET implemented projects aimed at strengthening local capacities of adolescents and young people and promoting participation and inclusion spaces, in response to the Venezuelan migration crisis. The goal of this project was to increase the self-reliance of vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees in Ecuador and the ability of public institutions to provide services for them; bridging the gaps in critical humanitarian assistance through psycho-social care, GBV response and prevention mechanisms and education; development support through livelihoods, income-generating activities and socio-cultural integration in the host community. 

As of February 2019, 58.8% of the Venezuelan children and adolescents between 3 and 17 years were excluded from education (8,568 girls and 9,662 boys). The main reasons are economical, administrative (enrolment processes, overcrowded schools, and lack of information/awareness) and discrimination by peers and teachers and/or bullying by peers. 

To respond to the needs of the Venezuelan refugees in Ecuador, RET and, in partnership with Education Cannot Wait (ECW), implemented a project to improve access to quality formal education for Venezuelan migrant and refugee adolescents. In tandem with supporting the host communities in Quito and Esmeraldas. The project strengthened the capacities of public officials of the Ministry of Education at national and sub-national levels to ensure access to public education and the implementation of inclusive Education for the Venezuelan refugee and migrant population. RET distributed essential supplies and supported eliminating the existing economic barriers to education for migrants and refugees from Venezuela. RET provided host schools with fundamental teaching and WASH materials and raised awareness about formal education enrollment process to out-of-school children and their families from the refugee and host communities. 

In 2020, RET is currently implementing a project to develop and implement a methodology for psycho-social support in the five safe spaces, where children and adolescents participate in organized activities to play, socialize, learn, and express themselves as they rebuild their lives. This methodology was aligned with the Minimum Standards for the Protection of Children in Humanitarian Action – NMPI and Standard 17 for Child-Friendly Spaces. Finally, the project will promote the inclusion of children and adolescents in educational activities; the RET technical team will provide educational support in virtual mode, in line with the Ministry of Education’s Plan and the program “Let’s Learn Together at Home.”