Who we are - Social Context

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ecuador is one of the most unequal societies in the world. Over the last 10 years, the differences between rich and poor have been exacerbated by major political and economic upheaval. Around 41% of Ecuadorīs 13.5 million people live on less than $2 a day – even though the average family of four needs $420 a month to cover its basic needs. Government services are severely stretched and under-resourced as only 2.3% of the GDP is spent on health and 1% on education, compared with 9% on debt service.

 

 

 

KEY FACTS

 

  • 45% of Ecuador’s children are living in poverty.
  • 22% of Ecuadorian children drop out of primary school before reaching grade 5, which means they leave education without learning how to read and write.
  • 775,000 children and adolescents currently work to support themselves and their families (UNICEF State of the World’s children 2004). Fifty percent of these chldren have very high-risk jobs, selling on the streets, working in mines or landfills and on banana plantations.

 

 

 

 

 

Guayaquil, Ecuadorīs most populous city, is ringed by urban slums. These communities are plagued by extremely high levels of violent crime and lack even the most basic services, such as paved roads, safe drinking water or sewers. Although electricity is available, the supply is very dangerous as it drawn illicitly through makeshift devices which are little more than wires thrown over the mains. Most of the houses in these slums are made of cane with zinc roofs. Even when they have built a house, residents often do not have any rights to the land on which their homes stand.

Street-working children - those who work on the street but who go home to their familes at the end of the night - make up the majority (90%) of the street-involved child population in Guayaquil. These children are exposed daily to the risks of accidents, violence, sexual abuse, drugs and assaults.

The increase in lawlessness and acute economic recession in Guayaquil has also led to increased levels of violence both within the community and inside the home.

Many of the children work from the age of four, and are on the streets unsupervised for up to 13 hours a day. Their chances of gaining an education are diminished by the long hours they work, the poor standard of local facilities and the high cost of going to school (money must be found for uniforms, registration fees, transport and school materials). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Girls are more frequently denied education and social opportunites than boys because many of them are forced to stay at home and look after their younger siblings.