Country Programme Highlights
UNFPA's Ecuador Programme 2004-2008 will contribute to poverty reduction and the achievement of the ICPD Programme of Action and the MDGs by concentrating on sexual and reproductive health, population and development strategies and empowering women (link to UNFPA and the MDGs table). It consists of four pillars:
- Sexuality education in middle and secondary schools
- Access to sexual and reproductive health information and services in under-served areas;
- Data collection and analysis for refining population and development strategies;
- Gender equality and citizen participation (with a focus on women).
UNFPA has worked closely with the Ministry of Education to implement the National Programme for Sexual Education and Love (known as PLANESA) at both national and provincial levels. Because of frequent changes of staff at the national level, UNFPA has focused its efforts on provinces and municipalities.
The Fund has worked closely with the Ministry of Education, local governments and schools in target communities to train more teachers on the methodology of sexuality education and to upgrade teaching materials.
A UN Foundation-funded project – Improving the Reproductive and Sexual Health of Adolescents – has had a profound impact in the provinces where it was introduced. Implemented by UNFPA in collaboration with a national NGO, Fundacion Esquel, the project has reached nearly 141,000 adolescents and young people, educating them about their reproductive health and rights. It has succeeded in improving awareness of the transmission routes of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, reducing adolescent pregnancies and increasing the use of adolescent-friendly reproductive health and counseling services. Condom use among sexually active young people rose by 21 per cent. Several hundred adolescents were also trained as peer educators in their respective communities.
UNFPA's approach to the promotion of sexual and reproductive health relies on a three-pronged strategy:
- Reinforcing and consolidating health sector reforms at the national level, including implementation of the Free Maternity Law
- Integrating sexual and reproductive health services into the primary health care system
- Promoting adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services in selected municipalities
At the national level, UNFPA's activities have proved catalytic on two counts. First, UNFPA strengthened the management capacity of the Ministry of Health to get regional and local health authorities to implement the Free Maternity Law, which was passed in 1998, but unevenly applied. Second, the Fund trained 225 members of the Surveillance Committees for Maternal Mortality throughout the entire country, greatly improving the Ministry's capacity to monitor maternal deaths, and provided training and emergency obstetric equipment to 14 provincial hospitals and 29 canton (county) hospitals.
UNFPA contributed both technically and financially to two major data collection and analysis activities: Ecuador's National Demographic and Health Survey (DHS- ENDEMAIN) carried out in 2004, and the Ministry of Social Welfare's National System of Social Indicators on Youth (known as SIJOVEN). Both endeavors allowed the Government to generate better, more disaggregated data to improve public policies, as well as contribute to the drafting of the first national report on the Millennium Development Goals. The SIJOVEN exercise provided valuable indicators facilitating the assessment of young people's needs and supporting the development of national youth programmes.
In addition, the Fund helped to strengthen the country's national risk management system, through the UN Inter-agency Emergency Team (UNETE). Assistance allowed for the creation of an information base for disaster prevention, a communication strategy and a rapid response system.
UNFPA was able to strengthen its strategic alliances with key development partners, both governmental and non-governmental, at all levels in order to empower women and promote gender equality. Working in concert with NGOs, national women's organizations, such as the National Council on Women, and UNIFEM, the Fund was able to increase women's representation in political bodies throughout the country from just 8.2 per cent in 1996 to 30 per cent in 2004. This major achievement was the result of sustained advocacy efforts by women's groups and NGOs .
Through support to the Forum for Women Parliamentarians, gender issues are now on the national political agenda for the first time. As of 2005, there are 17 women members of Parliament, representing 17 per cent of the total number. One other initiative is noteworthy. Working with the National Health Council (CONASA) and provincial and county health councils , the Fund was able to strengthen the capacity of local Users Committees (Comite Usuarias) to monitor the implementation of the Free Maternity Law. |
