Social reforms top country’s agenda
National and international entities fight poverty under supervision of Solidarity Fund

“In recent years, the government of Ecuador and numerous national and international organizations have introduced legislation and initiatives in an effort to fight the nation’s poverty.

Primarily due to problems posed by its underdeveloped infrastructure, Ecuador has been unable to capitalize on its fertile soil and abundant natural resources. As a result, lack of basic services such as potable water and sewerage has led to malnutrition and hunger among many of the people. Thousands of children, who should be in school, roam the streets in search of quick money. Moreover, many Ecuadorians leave the country in search of better opportunities, leaving behind dismantled families with deepened economic worries.

In response to this problem, several years ago the government of Ecuador instituted the Solidarity Fund, whose purpose, according to Vice President of Ecuador Pedro Pinto, who is also the President of the Board of Directors of the fund, is to finance programs designed to fight poverty and eliminate indigence while maximizing use of the country’s resources. The fund is the major shareholder of state-owned companies in the telecommunications and electricity sectors and obtains monies from profits gained from concessions of private telecom corporations such as Bell South and Porta. Ongoing privatization of state companies is expected to contribute to increased earnings for the Solidarity Fund. The fund invests its acquired monies and uses the proceeds to implement social agenda.

“Last year the Fund worked with $13 million — this year the total value amounted to $45 million, and for 2002, the budget should be close to $75 million,” says Luis Burbano, General Manager of the Solidarity Fund. Mr. Burbano is responsible for monitoring state-owned corporations to ensure that they operate efficiently and are profitable. The Solidarity Fund also supervises the institutions that implement social programs. The fund is currently financing a free maternity program aimed at reducing infant mortality rate from its current 5% to 1% by 2005. Investment in the program will total about $8 million.

To deal with malnutrition, the Solidarity Fund is investing nearly $3.5 million in a program executed by the Ministries of Education and Social Welfare that provides two meals per day for every student in the country. In addition, $4.3 million is being spent to aid in the development of rural schools, whose enrollment of poor children is one million. The fund is also designating over $2 million for potable water and sewerage systems in Ecuador’s poorest communities.

The President of the National Congress of Ecuador, Jose Cordero, says that creating legislation to deal with Ecuador’s socio-economic development within the context of globalization is Congress’s top priority; bills are being developed concerning social security provision, healthcare and education. He is also aiming to modernize the way in which Ecuador’s National Congress functions, to better serve the needs of the people.

Recently-appointed Minister of Social Welfare Luis Maldonado asserts that the nation’s children are his top priority. In collaboration with other ministries, organizations such as the Solidarity Fund and multilateral entities, the Ministry is putting in place a series of programs to prepare Ecuador’s children for the challenges of their future and provide them with basic services guaranteed them by the Constitution.

Mr. Maldonado, the first indigenous Minister in the history of Ecuador, sees himself as an example to Ecuador’s indigenous people of their ability to achieve executive power, and hopes to use his position to elevate their social needs. The Ministry of Social Welfare’s budget for its next term is approximately $250 million.

According to Dora Currea, a representative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Ecuador, the IDB, which represents 50% of Ecuador’s debt, has been an important creditor of programs aimed at developing Ecuador’s socio-economic status. It is currently investing about $40 million in numerous social programs. Among its goals is to improve education nationwide and to integrate members of the poorest communities into the business world by providing them with proper tools and training. Ms. Currea indicates that many indigenous leaders from remote and poor areas of Ecuador have asked the IDB to fund projects such as ecotourism ventures run by the communities themselves.

Christian-based organizations, such as the Solidarity and Action Association (ASA), are also involved in helping Ecuador’s poorest communities. ASA’s mission, according to Father Giorgio de Checchi, who started the association when he arrived from Italy 13 years ago, is “to assume the challenge posed by poverty in all of its aspects, to find alternative solutions with the people, families and communities, and to promote the integral development within a spirit of solidarity, participation and citizenship.” ASA has helped organize some of the poorest barrios in Ecuador, creating for them a sense of community and dignity. It has also helped various communities resolve territorial disputes.

By collaborating with the government and other organizations, ASA has helped develop educational and daycare programs, an intensive preventive healthcare program, an affordable healthcare plan, a supermarket model in which stockholders are community members, and programs to strengthen family values and teach families how to deal with problems such as alcoholism and abuse.

With the apparent commitment of government and the many organizations seeking to improve the country’s socio-economic standing, the people in Ecuador’s poorer communities can be hopeful that better jobs and more opportunities will continue to raise their standard of living and the quality of life for their families.