ECUADOR: Children's Rights in the UN Special Procedures' Reports

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Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of the UN Special Procedures. This does not include reports of child specific Special Procedures, such as the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which are available as separate reports.

Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.

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UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education

Kishore Singh

A/HRC/23/35/Add.2

Country visit: 10 to 17 September 2012
Report published: 13 May 2013

Primary and secondary education:

The Special Rapporteur notes that:

Concerns remain with regard to the phenomenon of students experiencing grade retention, making them vulnerable to early dropouts or persistent lagging behind their peers. In 2009, around 9 per cent of the students enrolled in primary education experienced grade retention. (para 28)

Concerns also emerge with regard to the high rates of student drop out at this education level: in 2009–2010, 5 per cent of the students enrolled in secondary level deserted the system. Within the bilingual education system, dropout rates reach 12 per cent of those enrolled. (para 29)

The Special Rapporteur recommends that:

The Government efforts for the expansion of enrolment at the general basic and secondary levels and for the creation of opportunities for students belonging to the lowest social strata to receive education should be intensified. Policies should be targeted at enrolment of all children in both general basic and secondary level education, as well as in ensuring their graduation. School infrastructure and educational facilities for children of indigenous communities and Afro-Ecuadorians especially need greater support to improve educational outcomes in these communities. (para 91)

Preschool education:

The Special Rapporteur expresses concern that:

Despite noting an increase in the absolute number of children receiving preschool education and in the number of teachers working in the sector, it was estimated that in 2012, only 27 per cent of 3-and 4-year-old children benefitted from preschool education. Another evaluation noted that the goal of universalization of preschool education by 2015 is unlikely to be met. The evaluation showed that only around 50 per cent of children under 5 years of age were covered by some sort of preschool education programme in 2010, while noting difficulties in measuring progress due to the lack of accurate information, particularly on private preschool and childcare entities. It was also noted that there is a need to further promote coherence among the multiple public and private childcare providers, as many of these have just recently been integrated into the education system. (para 35)

The Special Rapporteur recommends that:

Enhanced attention and investments to both the coverage and the quality of the preschool education system are needed. The role of the State in guaranteeing good quality early childhood education should never be underestimated, given its importance for a child’s development. (para 36)

Additional resources must be directed towards the expansion of the preschool education system in Ecuador. The failure to provide education and care at early ages is often related to unequal opportunities later in life, and could undermine progression to higher levels of education. The preschool education curriculum and teaching should also be culturally sensitive and inclusive, and professionals providing such services should be properly trained. (para 90)

Promotion of equal opportunities in education:

The Special Rapporteur notes that:

Historical disadvantages in the access to all levels of education remain a serious concern for Afro-Ecuadorians, the Montubio and indigenous groups. In 2010, indigenous peoples were estimated to receive only 5.55 years of schooling (the lowest schooling average among all ethnic groups). The Montubio and Afro-Ecuadorians displayed slightly higher numbers (7.19 and 8.45 years of schooling, respectively), but were also at a disadvantage if compared to the white schooling average (11 years, the highest average) or the national average (9.39 years). Moreover, despite renewed commitments to eliminate illiteracy, 30.2 per cent of indigenous peoples and 16.7 per cent of the Montubio remained illiterate in 2012, while the national illiteracy average was 7.9 per cent. These stark differences seem to reflect the accumulated impact of successive decades of inadequate education, particularly for groups living in certain remote regions, and insufficient attention to the cultural requirements of these groups. (para 52)

Not all children with disabilities are yet able to attend schools or kindergarten due to the lack of human and technical capacity to promote their integration into the education system. (para 53)

The Special Rapporteur recommends that:

Ecuador should continue paying special attention to the need for elimination of disparities – especially rural and urban – in education, which adversely affect marginalized groups, such as indigenous peoples, Afro-Ecuadorians, the Montubio, persons with disabilities, and all those who are victims of poverty. Historical inequalities can only be uprooted through long-term attention to often interrelated economic, physical, social and cultural barriers to access to good quality education. (para 83)

Violence and education:

The Special Rapporteur notes that:

Violence both within the school and the home remains as an important concern, particularly in urban areas. The National Human Rights Institution (Defensoría del Pueblo) reported having received multiple reports of situations of violence and abuse and noted the lack of timely responses and accountability by the State in most of the cases. In Quito and Guayaquil respectively, 24.5 per cent and 23.3 per cent of children reported being victims of sexual abuse. (para 75)

The Special Rapporteur recommends that:

The education system must be well prepared not only to contribute in the detection of cases of violence, but also to promote preventive strategies. In this regard, effective mechanisms of complaint must be in place and accessible to ensure the rapid protection of victims. (para 76)

Ecuador must tackle the phenomenon of violence in schools. Schools should be fully involved in the promotion of a protective environment for children, and must be assisted in promoting such an environment. Combined efforts of public authorities, communities, teachers, parents and civil society organizations are needed to ensure better protection from violence in and around Ecuadorian schools. In this respect, the Special Rapporteur underlines the importance of projects such as “Safe and Friendly Cities for All” being promoted by UN Women. The State must put in place strategies and tools to promote a favourable and protective learning environment. (para 97)

UN Independent Expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty:
Ms. Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona

(A/HRC/11/9/Add.1)

Country visit: 10-15 November 2008
Report published: 19 May 2009

    • Health and education:  Public education and health services are universally free, and the law on free maternal and infant healthcare guarantees children’s right to free healthcare up to the age of 5. (paras. 15 and 41 -- pp. 7 and 12) 
    • Child labour and malnutrition:  The conditional cash transfer programme, the Human Development Bond Programme (Bono de Desarrollo Humano - BDH),established in 2008 and the largest of its kind in Ecuador aimed at sectors of the population living in poverty and extreme poverty, including households with children, aims to a) reduce the rate of chronic malnutrition and preventable diseases in children under 5, and b) promote school enrollment and continuous attendance of children between the ages of 5 and 16.  The independent expert notes that the BDH has had a positive impact on school enrollment, has reduced child labour, and improved child health, namely because it stipulates the condition that to receive the money mothers must enroll their children in school and undertake regular visits to health centres.  That the BDH directly allocates the cash transfers to mothers is of benefit to the family as a whole, namely through improved nutrition levels. (paras. 67-69, 71, 73 and 103 -- pp. 17-18 and 24) 
    • Gender disparities in income:  Poverty affects men and women differently in Ecuador, whith an average of 34 per cent of males aged 15 and above receiving no income, while the figure increases to 70 per cent in women, which underlines women’s lack of economic autonomy and that their main role is unpaid domestic work. (para. 35 -- p. 11)
    • Child mortality:   Poverty affects children in a particular way, given their greater dependence on family support and social services in general. In Ecuador, chronic malnutrition in children is an indicator of the presence of extreme poverty. Notably, Ecuador’s child mortality rate is among the highest in Latin America. (para. 43 -- pp. 12-13)
    • Child labour:  Another indicator of the presence of extreme poverty is the number of children engaged in labour. In Ecuador, approximately 17 per cent of children and young people between the ages of 5 and 17 undertake paid and unpaid work, mainly in agriculture. The Independent Expert also notes that a 2006 study revealed that eight out of every ten child workers undertake work considered dangerous.  (para. 44 -- p. 13) 
    • Migration:  Migration is yet another phenomenon in Ecuador associated with poverty and extreme poverty, which has a significant impact on children. Independent Expert notes that the feeling of having been uprooted and of belonging to a broken family particularly affects children. And that children with migrant parents are more exposed to violence, principally boys, the youngest children and those of indigenous communities. (para. 45 -- p. 13)
    • Social benefit programmes:  The Independent Expert expresses concern about the lack of efficiency of child support programmes. For example, in 2006, 54 per cent of children living in poverty were not receiving social benefits.  The Social Agenda on Childhood and Adolescence (Agenda Social de la Niñez y Adolescencia) 2007-2010, the main advisory body to the government on social programmes, recognises the insufficient allocation of government funds to guarantee the fulfillment of the Childhood and Adolescence Code, and points to the need for greater investment.  The Independent Expert welcomes this official recognition on the part of the State, and hopes that it will be translated into urgent and immediate actions to support children, with a priority focus on those living in extreme poverty. (paras. 46 and 47 -- p. 13)

    UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequence:
    Ms. Gulnara Shahinian
     

    (A/HRC/15/20/Add.3)

    Country visit: 25 January-1 February 2010
    Report published: 5 July 2010

    In her country report, the Special Rapporteur comments on:

    • Ecuador's legislation prohibiting forms of child slavery
    • National plans to combat forms of child slavery
    • Institutional system to eradicate forms of child slavery 
    • Contemporary forms of child slavery in Ecuador today 
    • Initiatives of cooperation to address the worst forms of child labour 
    • Addressing poverty as a major root cause of the worst forms of child labour 
    • Recommendations 

    To view the full country report for Ecuador, click here.

    UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

    Philip Alston

    A/HRC/17/28/Add.2
    Country visit: 5-15 July 2010

    Report published: 9 May 2011

    No mention of children's rights.

    UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people:
    Mr. Rodolfo Stavenhagen

    A/HRC/4/32/Add.2

    Country visit: 24 April to 4 May 2006

    Report published: 28 December 2006

    Situation of indigenous people on the northern border:

    The Special Rapporteur notes that:

    Another study carried out in Sucumbíos province on children and education in schools concluded that, since the implementation of Plan Colombia, there has been an upsurge in armed conflict and violence in the area and the number of children in schools has halved. Children go to school irregularly and teachers are working in precarious conditions as the area is one of high risk. Conditions were unsanitary in 45 per cent of schools visited. Children became ill for months on end owing to effects from spraying, and only half of the teachers had the necessary teaching materials. (para 31)

    The sexual exploitation of women, young girls and teenagers, and trafficking in persons has increased alarmingly. The number of indigenous Ecuadorian farmers, including minors, carrying out illicit planting on the Colombian side of the border has risen. (para 35)

    The Special Rapporteur recommends that:

    The Special Rapporteur recommends that the National Congress of Ecuador enact legislation concerning the collective rights of indigenous nationalities, peoples and communities, as established in the country’s Constitution, relating in particular to the administration of justice; indigenous territorial areas; rules governing such economic activities as oil operations, mining, logging, agriculture, fishing and tourism, in addition to others that affect natural resources in indigenous territories; bilingual intercultural education; conservation and preservation of the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples; respect and protection of peoples in voluntary isolation; the right to prior, free and informed consultation and consent in accordance with international law; indigenous health services; prevention and punishment of sexual offences; exploitation in conditions of servility, the forced and commercial exploitation of women and girls belonging to indigenous peoples and nationalities; extension of various social services to indigenous communities; biodiversity and environmental conservation and management; economic development plans and projects; an office for the human rights of indigenous peoples; and local, communal and regional forms of indigenous government. (para 81)

    Population movements and social and economic conditions:

    The Special Rapporteur found that:

    Poor working conditions on farms growing flowers for export represent another common problem. Indigenous people make up the majority of workers and suffer health problems due to the lack of hygiene in the workplace. Thousands of children and young people are exploited without State supervision and are thus particularly vulnerable. In Cotopaxi, for example, there are farms where conditions are reminiscent of the worst periods of slavery, as workers are often paid a mere two or three dollars per day, for 20 hours’ work. (para 47)

    The Special Rapporteur recommends that:

    The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Ecuadorian Government draw up and apply an emergency plan (in consultation with the region’s indigenous peoples) on the critical situation of indigenous border communities (particularly the Awá), as a result of the impact of the internal conflict in Colombia, illicit drug production and trafficking activities, environmental degradation, the influx of indigenous refugees from Colombia and the situation of violence and in security in the area. Concessions granted to oil and mining companies must be reviewed. The State must shape public policies aimed at protecting the various sectors, peoples and communities who live on the northern border, with their full participation, including the right to free, prior and informed consultation. (para 87)

    Social welfare indicators:

    The Special Rapporteur expresses concern that:

    Chronic malnutrition among indigenous children is more than double that of mestizo children (46.7 per cent compared to 21.2 per cent). (para 52)

    The Special Rapporteur recommends that:

    The Special Rapporteur recommends that the National Congress of Ecuador enact legislation concerning the collective rights of indigenous nationalities, peoples and communities, as established in the country’s Constitution, relating in particular to the administration of justice; indigenous territorial areas; rules governing such economic activities as oil operations, mining, logging, agriculture, fishing and tourism, in addition to others that affect natural resources in indigenous territories; bilingual intercultural education; conservation and preservation of the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples; respect and protection of peoples in voluntary isolation; the right to prior, free and informed consultation and consent in accordance with international law; indigenous health services; prevention and punishment of sexual offences; exploitation in conditions of servility, the forced and commercial exploitation of women and girls belonging to indigenous peoples and nationalities; extension of various social services to indigenous communities; biodiversity and environmental conservation and management; economic development plans and projects; an office for the human rights of indigenous peoples; and local, communal and regional forms of indigenous government. (para 81)

    Bilingual intercultural education:

    The Special Rapporteur notes that:

    Nevertheless, not all indigenous children have access to schooling. A 2003 study in Cotopaxi showed that 526 rural children did not go to school, as their homes were too far away. In State schools, the Government runs a school meals programme for indigenous children, but a study shows that more than 1.3 million children still do not receive breakfast and lunch regularly, the meals provided under the programme as an inducement to ensure their attendance at school. (para 67)

    As a general rule, the so-called “Hispanic” schools (which are neither intercultural nor bilingual) have better resources, meaning that many parents prefer their children to attend these schools, leaving intercultural bilingual schools for poor indigenous people. In terms of good-quality, culturally appropriate indigenous education, the Ecuadorian bilingual intercultural education programme is generally considered one of the most successful in Latin America, despite its aforementioned limitations. (para 68)

    The Special Rapporteur recommends that:

    The Special Rapporteur recommends that the National Congress of Ecuador enact legislation concerning the collective rights of indigenous nationalities, peoples and communities, as established in the country’s Constitution, relating in particular to the administration of justice; indigenous territorial areas; rules governing such economic activities as oil operations, mining, logging, agriculture, fishing and tourism, in addition to others that affect natural resources in indigenous territories; bilingual intercultural education; conservation and preservation of the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples; respect and protection of peoples in voluntary isolation; the right to prior, free and informed consultation and consent in accordance with international law; indigenous health services; prevention and punishment of sexual offences; exploitation in conditions of servility, the forced and commercial exploitation of women and girls belonging to indigenous peoples and nationalities; extension of various social services to indigenous communities; biodiversity and environmental conservation and management; economic development plans and projects; an office for the human rights of indigenous peoples; and local, communal and regional forms of indigenous government. (para 81)

    UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent

    *section in development

     

    UN Working Group on the question of the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination

    (A/HRC/4/42/Add.2)

    Country visit: 28 August - 1 September 2006 
    Report published: 23 February 2007

     

    No mention of children’s rights. 

     

    UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

    (A/HRC/4/40/Add.2)

    Country visit: 12-22 February 2006 
    Report published: 26 October 2006

     

    Informants: 

    • The Working Group benefited from full cooperation and complete transparency on the part of the authorities, both national and provincial, at all levels, and was able to hold interviews with, among others, detainees win pretrial detention, sentences prisoners, minors, and persons held in disciplinary cells. (para. 5 -- p. 5) 
    • The Working Group also met representatives of various NGOs active in the fields of human rights, the correctional system and the rights of women and children, immigrants, persons of African ancestry and vulnerable groups in the criminal justice system. (para. 7 -- p. 6)

    Provision of public defence:

    • Article 24.10 of the Constitution stipulates that the State shall establish public defenders to assist indigenous communities, workers, women and minors who are abandoned or victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse, and any person lacking financial means.  However, the Working Group notes that the number of lawyers working for the Office of the Public Defender is very low: 32 for the entire country; 4 in Quito and 4 in Guayaquil. By comparison, there are 323 public prosecutors.  The National Congress is considering the establishment of a strong and independent legal aid institution, although certain existing institutions claim that they should provide that service. (para. 25 -- p. 8) 
    • The Working Group states that in a country where the majority of the prison population cannot afford the services of a private defence attorney, it is absolutely essential to have a public defence system, and the low number of lawyers working for the Office of the Public Defender is totally inadequate for the prison population. Notwithstanding the good will and dedication to service of these defenders, it is obvious that they cannot ensure an appropriate trial defence and that they serve basically to give a veneer of legality to a process that is essentially unjust. (para. 99 -- p. 21)  

    Detention of minors:

    • In 1990, Ecuador was the first Latin American country to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Following a drafting process and consultations in which over 18,000 people took part, the Children’s and Youth Code entered into force on 3 July 2003, which outlines the measures to be taken with respect to the detention of minors. (para. 51 -- p. 12)
    • The juvenile justice system functions separately from the one for adults, with its own principles and standards. (para. 59 -- p. 14) 
    • Arrested persons are initially held in the cells of the Judicial Police. Arrested minors must be transferred to youth guidance centres, such as the Virgilio Guerrero Youth Guidance Centre in Quito. (para. 47 -- pp. 11-12) 
    • In principle, persons in pretrial detention or detención en firme must be transferred to pretrial detention centres. Because of overcrowding at such centres, some persons in this situation will continue to be held in police cells, while others are sent to the social rehabilitation centres. Yet under no circumstances may a minor be detained with adults. (para. 47 and 53 -- pp. 11-12)   
    • The prohibition of the detention of minors with adults is apparently enforced at both detention centres and police cells. (para. 59 -- p. 14) 
    • Once a teenager is arrested, the police must immediately inform the Prosecutor for Juvenile Offenders of the detention. If the Prosecutor so requires, the competent judge may order the minor’s detention for 24 hours. Such detention may be extended to ensure that the minor appears at the preliminary hearing. (para. 52 -- p. 12) 
    • Pretrial detention of minors may be ordered for a maximum of 90 days in order to ensure that the minor appears at the trial. Once that time has lapsed, the warden of the detention facility must immediately release the minor, without waiting for a new order from the judge, under pain of dismissal. The minor must await the verdict while living at home, except in cases where the family is unable to provide accommodation or where there are situations of domestic violence. (para. 52 -- p. 12) 
    • Minors over 7 years of age who are found guilty of an offence must immediately be transferred to the Prosecutor for Juvenile Offenders. (para. 48 -- p. 12) 
    • Minors of 12 years and under who have committed a criminal offence are not to be put on trial, and protection measures should be applied to them. Teenagers are subject to social and educational measures, and are only to be incarcerated in extreme cases. The Code also establishes a juvenile justice system in the judiciary, centred upon the office of the juvenile judge. (para. 51 -- p. 12) 
    • The maximum time that a minor may spend serving a sentence is four years. If the minor turns 18 during that time, the sentence is served out at the juvenile detention centre. (para. 53 -- p. 12) 
    • The Working Group visited the Virgilio Guerrero Youth Guidance Centre, where it saw that minors were separated according to the their trial status, and that the atmosphere was healthy and facilitated their rehabilitation and the continuation of their studies. The Centre set an example that should be followed by the rest of the country’s juvenile detention centres. (para. 59 -- p. 14) 

    Discrepancies between the Constitution, the law and practice

    • By law, if a suspect is reported to be a minor, it must be presumed to be true. In such cases, persons stating that they are minors must be placed under the authority of the Prosecutor for Juvenile Offenders, and in the custody of the appropriate social services. The Working Group, however, met several persons who claimed to be minors and who were held in overflowing police cells and pretrial detention centres, awaiting documentary proof of their age. (para. 73 -- p. 16) 
    • The age of minors or the pregnancy of a woman detainee must be confirmed by the police doctor, the sole authority competent to verify such a status. (para. 74 -- p. 17) 
    • The psychosomatic state of any arrested or detained person must be certified by a document issued by public health centres and hospitals (in Guayaquil, by a forensic physician). (para. 74 -- p. 17) 

    Recommendations:

    • Special attention should be paid to the situation of children in conflict with the law. The practice of holding minors together with adults in police cells and at pretrial detention centres should be avoided. Any claims by detainees that they are minors must be responded to immediately, and such persons should be placed under the authority of the Prosecutor for Juvenile Offenders. It should be recalled that the pretrial detention of minors must be used only exceptionally and as a last resort. (para. G. -- p. 22) 
    • Urgent measures must be adopted to establish a system of public defenders in the country to adequately assist detainees who are minors who are abandoned or victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse, among others, in order to place the defence on an equal footing with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and furnishing it with the necessary resources. Detainees should also be provided with the assistance of an attorney from the very beginning of their detention. (para. C. -- p. 21) 

     

    UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers:
    Mr. Leandro Despouy

    E/CN.4/2005/60/Add.4

    Country visit: 13 to 18 March 2005

    Report published: 29 March 2005

    No mention of children's rights.

    UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants:
    Ms. Gabriela Rodríguez Pizarro

    E/CN.4/2002/94/Add.1

    Country visit: 5 to 16 November 2001

    Report published: 18 February 2002

    The impact of emigration on places of origin:

    The Special Rapporteur notes that:

    The summary of the Equal Opportunities Plan drawn up by CONAMU, which was presented to the Special Rapporteur in Cuenca, states that women who stay behind as heads of single-parent households take on new roles in the sphere of production and in the community. However, men continue to control the resources of such women and decision-making in all aspects of their lives. Children are obliged to take on huge tasks which are inappropriate to their age, and which are assigned according to sex. They are also subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse by relatives or neighbours who still control them. (para 42)

    The Special Rapporteur recommends that:

    The government should start the implementation of psychosocial programmes to help the families of migrants who have remained behind, in a joint effort by State institutions, civil society and the international community. (para 78)

    Cases of trafficking and smuggling of minors:

    The Special Rapporteur was provided with information allegedly gathered in 1999 concerning trafficking in minors, including a high percentage of indigenous minors, from the coast of Ecuador allegedly to Japan. According to the information provided to the Special Rapporteur, this network operates using cruise ships visiting Ecuador and the Galapagos area. The traffickers are said to offer young people in Ecuador and their families US$ 6,000 for a year’s work in Japan as Spanish teachers or domestic employees. The families hand over their children in exchange for the sum agreed. The children are then taken by ship to Japan, where they are reported to be enslaved in the sex industry. Reports have also been received of networks trafficking in indigenous children who are allegedly taken to Venezuela and Uruguay to work selling handicrafts or as members of networks of street beggars. (para 47)

    The Special Rapporteur recommends that:

    Ecuador should continue to conclude bilateral agreements to regulate migration abroad by its nationals and to coordinate with the Ministry of Labour all matters relating to migrant workers. She also learned with great concern of the testimony of migrants and their families reporting abuses committed in States through which Ecuadorian migrants pass and where networks of smugglers operate, for example in Central America and Mexico. In that regard, she recommends that Ecuador should include in its external negotiating strategy dialogue with such States in order to apply measures of protection for its citizens, the effective investigation of abuses, the non-penalization of victims of smuggling and a strategy for preventing and combating smuggling which has been coordinated among those same States. She takes this opportunity to endorse the wish expressed by migrants’ families concerning the conclusion of agreements among States whereby Ecuadorian citizens can serve sentences to which they have been sentenced within Ecuador. (para 83)

    UN Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights:
    Mr. Cephas Lumina

    (A/HRC/14/21/Add.1)

    Country visit: 10-15 November 2008
    Report published: 2-8 May 2009

     

    Economic, social and cultural rights:

    • According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2004, “the high percentage of the annual national budget (around 40 per cent) allocated to foreign debt servicing…seriously limits the resources available for the achievement of effective enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights”, particularly the disadvantaged and marginalised groups of society.  In relation to children, the independent expert notes that in 1996, the Committee on the Rights of the Child observed that “the adjustment measures were costly in social terms”. And in 2004 noted a number of factors and difficulties impeding implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the country, including “the negative impact on children of external debt and structural adjustment measures; and … the widespread poverty and socio-economic disparities characterising the country.” (para. 34 -- pp. 11-12) 

    Social spending:

    • The Ecuadorian Government has significantly increased social spending, from 5.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006 to an estimated 8.3 per cent of GDP in 2008. This included an expansion of the Human Development Cash Transfer Programme (Bono de Desarrollo Humano) for the poorest households, a US$ 474.3 million increase in spending on housing for low-income families and new programmes in education, training and microfinance. Spending on health care has increased to 3.5 per cent of GDP (about US$ 1.8 billion) and free health-care coverage has been expanded, especially for children and pregnant women. (para. 40 -- p. 12) 

     

    Organisation: 
    Child Rights International Network

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