17-12-2021 | di COOPI

Ecuador. International Migrants Day: COOPI's response

According to the latest figures from Grupo de Trabajo para Refugiados y Migrantes (GTRM)  and the Plataforma de Coordinación Interagencial – R4V for Refugees and Migrants in Venezuela, more than 500,000 Venezuelans have left their country in search of better life opportunities in Ecuador.

For this reason, in the framework of the International Migrants Day and within the project "Improved conditions of access to protection and security for children and adolescents in the context of human mobility and their families in transit and/or residing in Ecuador - PHASE 2" COOPI - Cooperazione Internazionale renews its commitment to the development of intervention actions with the population in a situation of human mobility in different sectors, including WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene). Currently, COOPI is working on the implementation of health promotion days and the dissemination of information for the prevention of COVID-19, together with good hygiene practices and proper hand washing.

The intervention operations are carried out in 6 provinces of Ecuador (Carchi, Imbabura, Sucumbíos, Guayas, Manabí and El Oro) and they are part of the response provided within the project undertaken in collaboration with UNICEF, with the support of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and the Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration of the United States (BPRM).

Regardless of the place of origin, migratory status, against any kind of xenophobia and discrimination, the right to health, water, protection and security is guaranteed for every individual. In detail, through the ¡Lávate-te Lávate Las Manos! campaign, the migrant population has access to these informative sessions, receiving adequate information and hygiene and biosecurity supplies to face the pandemic.

As part of this comprehensive strategy, legal advice and information on protection routes for the population in human mobility is also provided, including the distribution of safe and quality water for all. Particular attention is given to population who travel by foot for long distance, to whom a healthy refreshment is provided. The WASH component is not limited to this but it is also present in the representation of the Theatre of the Oppressed, staged by young people in human mobility and host communities.

COOPI has been present in Ecuador since 1967 but, since 2020 and as a consequence of the Venezuelan crisis, it operates in nine regions of the country to provide assistance to individuals with human mobility. Through its intervention, it directly reaches 56,693 people, focusing in particular on children, women and the LGTBIQ+ population.