According to the Ecuadorian Vice President, Maria Alejandra Munoz, one in four children in Ecuador suffers due to chronic malnutrition.
The problem stems from poverty which remains a serious challenge for this Latin-American nation where an estimated 10% of the population lives in poverty. According to the data of the Ecuadorian Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) for 2019, to consider an individual as affected by poverty, the level of his monthly income shouldn’t exceed $84,82 and in case of extreme poverty, it shouldn’t be more than $47,80. Conversely, every six out of 10 adults are overweight, because of the unhealthy diet based on cheaper fast-food, and this number is increasing.
Ecuadorian society is also affected by inequality in that many children born into poverty then fail to have access to education, healthcare, or healthy and nutritious food.
UNICEF Ecuador estimates that of the 17 million inhabitants of the country, about 3.1 million are children and teenagers living in poverty. This situation may become even worse as a result of the deteriorating economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 lockdown.
Aside from malnutrition and poverty, one of the key problems for the children of Ecuador is the lack of access to education. Since schools were closed after the country was hit by the pandemic, many children do not have access to the appropriate technology to be able take part in remote learning.
UNICEF estimates that children from rich countries lost about six weeks at school because of the COVID-19 outbreak while those from underdeveloped countries, including Ecuador, have lost more than four months.
Similar to other underdeveloped countries, those most affected by the COVID-19 crisis in Ecuador are women and girls. About 60% of the entire healthcare workforce are women and, in the case of nurses, this is as much as 81% which makes them most vulnerable to possible infection. What is more, the Ecuadorian healthcare system has been seriously overwhelmed by the pandemic and as a result, its sexual and reproductive healthcare services have been severely restricted. It is assessed that between March and May 2020 the number of them dropped by between 45 to 60% compared to 2019. Of more concern is that maternal mortality is likely to have increased by 50% and over 2,200 children aged under 5 may have died because of the lack of maternal care or access to healthcare services.
The ongoing crisis is most likely to worsen the levels of poverty and malnourishment amongst the youngest inhabitants of Ecuador.
The United Nations assesses that this year Ecuador may lose about 11% of its GDP due to the pandemic and, furthermore, 715,000 households will be plunged into multidimensional poverty since many people have lost their jobs. Previously, the UN stated that between March and May 2020 this Latin American country lost US$6.42 billion, representing almost 6% of its GDP in 2019 and the cost of meeting the basic needs of the Ecuadorian social and productive sectors in the short term are estimated to be US$2.7 billion. To deal with poverty and the financial crisis that have strongly affected Ecuador, many international institutions have decided to allocate additional funding. The EU is planning to channel US$10.6 million, the World Bank US$780 million, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) US$624.8 million, the Bank of Latin America (CAF) US$300.4 million, and the United Nations US$74.3 million.
