Read all posts for ‘Ecuador’

This article was originally drafted by Fernando Prada and the FORO Nacional Internacional as part of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Searchlight Process. For more Searchlight content on futurechallenges.org, please click here. Conventional wisdom during 2012 was that the region was developing in two tracks —distinguished by the impact of the economic crisis in industrialized economies. A first […]

Abstract: The government of Nicaragua announced in January of this year a campaign that is being called, in short, “Vivir bonito” (“Living pretty”). The initial 14 point plan doesn’t specify the concrete measures that this campaign will execute, although the goal expressed is the desire of the government for Nicaraguans […]

Sumak Kawsay is an indigenous concept that involves good living and being responsible with all beings that surround us, including nature. In Ecuador, this concept (which comes from the Quechua language) was included in the final draft of the Constitution in 2008. It is the first time that the country speaks of the Rights of Nature, giving plants and land the same rights enjoyed by humans. But over the years, many fear that the urge for money can or will destroy this concept  and allow the indiscriminate exploitation of oil and mining, conceived by some politicians and enterprises as the only source to increase national income, affecting people and nature. Is Sumak Kawsay strong enough in Ecuador?

In Ecuador health is a matter of public services (with five hospitals managed by the Health Ministry in the three biggest cities and dozens of health sub-centers in the rest of the country) and private enterprise (with over 40 hospitals and clinics, that, in most cases, work with private health […]

Memory is selective, but firm in many ways. The image comes from television: families weeping in the doorways of international lounges because a son, daughter, mother, father or husband and wife had to leave and find a real income in Europe, mainly in Spain and Italy. The relatives wouldn’t see […]