Archive - U.S. Agency for International Development

Ecuador

USAID 53 años juntos por el desarrollo del Ecuador

USAID 53 años colaborando por una ciudadanía ecuatoriana más participativa e incluyente

53 años comprometidos con el Ecuador megadiverso

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About Ecuador

USAID has worked in Ecuador since 1961 to advance the country’s economic and social development, preserve its environment, respond to natural disasters, and enrich the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorians.

For over 50 years, USAID has supported the construction of important infrastructure, including roads and potable water systems; created jobs for tens of thousands of Ecuadorians; provided scholarships for higher education; built nearly 1,000 schools; conserved biodiversity-rich areas, such as in the Galapagos Islands; increased agricultural production; improved health service delivery for mothers and children; and extended financial services to thousands of Ecuadorians in rural areas.

We have achieved these important development results in partnership with Ecuador's public and private institutions, non-governmental organizations, small producers, entrepreneurs, communities, and many others. Although USAID closed our field office in Ecuador in September 2014, we are proud of the close cooperation and the development gains that we have supported, including the capacity that we have helped to develop in our partners who will continue to support critical development efforts.

USAID continues to support Ecuadorian civil society organizations that promote civil society and citizen engagement with local, regional, and national government, with an emphasis on the promotion of the freedoms of expression and association.

In April 2016, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the coast of northwestern Ecuador, causing at least 663 deaths and affecting more than 240,000 people. Following a request from the Government of Ecuador for international assistance, USAID mobilized more than 30 disaster specialists to coordinate response activities and provided more than $4.3 million in humanitarian assistance to deliver relief commodities, improve humanitarian coordination, and support health, protection, shelter, and water, sanitation, and hygiene activities in earthquake-affected communities.