Country program page Ecuador

ECUADOR

Country Context

Ecuador faces a complex humanitarian crisis characterized by the deterioration of internal security, Venezuelan migratory flows, and climate emergencies. After Ecuador and Haiti were identified as part of the 20 countries with the highest risk of intensification of humanitarian crises, according to the 2024 Emergency Watchlist report, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned Colombia: Informe de situación humanitaria 2024 – mayo de 2024 (publicado el 04 de julio de 2024) | OCHA about the conditions that have positioned the country as a priority humanitarian concern in the region.

The country hosts around 416,000 Venezuelan migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees estimated to live in Ecuador in 2024, 77% of whom needed humanitarian assistance Gobierno colombiano declara situación de desastre y calamidad en el país ante el grave impacto de incendios forestales, primarily concentrated in the provinces of Guayas, Manabí, and Pichincha. The security situation has deteriorated dramatically, with homicides of adolescents between 15 and 19 years increasing by 17% in the first half of 2024 Colombia | Monitoreo de emergencias humanitarias: desplazamiento masivo y confinamiento, enero a septiembre 2024 – Colombia | ReliefWeb, while Ecuador transformed from a transit country to a key center of international drug trafficking, generating a spiral of violence Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela | R4V.

Additionally, the country has faced significant natural disasters, with 3,623 adverse events from rainfall recorded since January 1, 2025, affecting 24 provinces, 213 cantons, and 876 parishes Colombia | ACNUR. This convergence of factors has led the government to declare multiple states of exception and has complicated the humanitarian response to serve both the Venezuelan population and vulnerable local communities.

Sources:

International Rescue Committee (IRC): https://www.rescue.org/press-release/crisis-en-ecuador-y-haiti-moldearan-la-migracion-en-america-latina-en-2024-irc
R4V Regional Platform: https://www.r4v.info/en/ecuador
UNHCR Ecuador: https://www.acnur.org/sites/default/files/2024-07/tendencias-nacionales-desplazamiento-forzado-ecuador-2024.pdf
National Risk Management Secretariat: https://www.gestionderiesgos.gob.ec/afectaciones-por-lluvias-2024-2025/

Ongoing Projects

Evidence-based decision-making (EVIDEM) Consortium in Ecuador

Objetive

3iS aim to improve decision making in various humanitarian sectors through information management products and services, coordination, methodologies, assessment tools and emergency response monitoring. Strengthening humanitarian response in Ecuador through improved decision making facilitated by information management, from data collection to analysis. The project wiltrengthen community engagement and accountability in conflict and disaster-affected areas through information management and training processes, focusing on social mapping workshops and capacity building activities for humanitarian actors.