Attachments
CONTEXT
- Organized criminal group (OCG) violence has continued to increase across Ecuador since August 2023, driving forced displacement and elevating the risk of protection violations targeting civilians, according to international media and relief actors. The worsening hostilities prompted the Government of Ecuador (GoE) to declare a nationwide state of internal armed conflict in January and a state of emergency in early October. OCG violence has also impeded the delivery of lifesaving assistance by limiting relief actors’ ability to reach individuals in need and compromising the safety of humanitarian staff in areas with heightened OCG presence.
- Ecuador remains both a host and transit country for migrants and refugees displaced by the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. Of the nearly 7.8 million people who have fled Venezuela since 2014, nearly 475,000 individuals had sought refuge in Ecuador as of November 2024, the Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela reports. Venezuelan and other migrants in Ecuador remain at heightened risk of exploitation, human trafficking, and smuggling, and often have limited access to social services and livelihood opportunities. The influx of migrants has also strained already limited public services and resources across the country, including health care services.
- Ecuador is vulnerable to natural hazards and climatic shocks such as droughts, earthquakes, floods, fires, and volcanic activity, which continue to generate humanitarian needs. The El Niño weather phenomenon in 2024 resulted in increased rainfall, causing severe flooding and landslides in western and central Ecuador between March and June, adversely affecting agricultural activities, exacerbating existing food insecurity, and elevating the risk of infectious disease transmission due to deteriorated water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions in affected communities. In contrast, El Niño has resulted in severe droughts across at least 20 of Ecuador’s 24 provinces, affecting nearly 86,500 aces of agricultural land, as of late September, according to the GoE. The extremely dry weather has caused wildfires to spread rapidly, with more than 3,500 fires recorded countrywide from January to October. Drought conditions have reduced agricultural production as well as water reservoir levels in areas where hydroelectric power is generated, decreasing food availability and prompting countrywide energy shortages.