 |
    |
 
Ecuador   Why children in Ecuador need your helpNearly 70 per cent of Ecuador's 4.8 million children live in poverty, and malnutrition effects 15 per cent of children under five years. Fifty per cent of child deaths are preventable and there are higher mortality rates for indigenous and afro-Ecuadorian children.
Traditionally a farming country, Ecuador's economy has grown since the 1960s following the discovery of oil. Although not all Ecuadorians have benefited equally from the oil revenues, most of which has gone to the traditionally dominant Spanish-descended elite. The government is now beginning to address social inequality by investing in public health, education, housing, labour and welfare but there is still a long way to go until the gap between rich and poor can be bridged. Country factsEcuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a democratic republic that's bordered by Colombia on the north and Peru on the east and south. Ecuador straddles the equator, from which it takes its name, and also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific. Ecuador formed part of the northern Inca Empire until the Spanish conquest in 1534, and the country's capital, Quito, has many fine examples of well preserved early colonial architecture. In 1809, the Ecuadorian middle class begin to push for independence, and in 1822 Antonio Jose de Sucre defeated Spanish royalists at the battle of Pichincha. Ecuador became part of independent Gran Colombia, which also encompassed Colombia, Panama and Venezuela, before achieving full independence in 1830.
|
It has also been
estimated that around 430,000 children aged between five and 17
years work to help provide an income for their families. As a
result, primary school enrolment rates are low, and although the
education system is open to both boys and girls, the same
educational opportunities aren't offered to indigenous and
afro-Ecuadorian children.
