UNFPA in Ecuador

Stories and photos by Don Hinrichsen

The MDGs cannot be achieved without stronger efforts to promote women's and young people's rights.

Charting Progress: Meeting the Targets of the ICPD Programme of Action and the MDGs, 1990-2005

Indicator	1990-1995	2000-2005
Total fertility rate (lifetime births per woman on average)	3.4	2.8
Maternal morality ratio: deaths per 100,000 live births	150	130
Infant mortality rate: deaths per 1,000 live births	43	24.9
Under-five mortality: deaths per 1,000 live births	57	27
Literacy rate, 15-24 year olds; per cent	95.5	96.4
Access to clean water, per cent	69	86
Access to sanitation, per cent	56	72
Youth unemployment, 15-24 age group, per cent	13.5	14.8
Enrolment ratio*, primary school, both boys and girls	97.8	99.5
Enrolment ratio, primary school, girls	98.0	100.0
Women in Parliament, per cent	5	17

Sources:
(1) UNFPA Annual Country Programme Report, Ecuador, 2004.
(2) Earth Trends, Country Profile: Ecuador, World Resources Institute, Washington DC, 2003.
(3) Country Profile: Ecuador, UNFPA/PRB, 2005.

* Enrolment ratio is calculated by taking the total enrolment and dividing it by the total population of that particular age group corresponding to a specific level of education. In others words in 1990, 98 per cent of all girls were in primary school and by 2000, 100 per cent were in primary school.