At Work Around the World

Malnutrition, unsanitary environments, and poor housing situations are reality for more than half of all Ecuadorians. Despite the abundance of oil reserves in the nation, government corruption historically has prevented much of the wealth generated from these resources from reaching the public. A debilitating disease called onchocerciasis contributes to the many obstacles Ecuadorians living in poverty face. The Carter Center, working through the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas, has been working in Ecuador since 1996. As a result of disease prevention efforts, more and more people are able to live without the threat of one day permanently losing their sight. After years of contribution to these efforts, the Center was also invited in 1998 to assist Ecuador as it struggled to eliminate government corruption.

Ecuador is currently undergoing major institutional and democratic transformation. In this context, The Carter Center was extended an invitation in 2007 by the government of Rafael Correa to participate in several efforts including the accompaniment of the Constituent Assembly process as well as the facilitation of a citizen dialogue process between Ecuador and Colombia. The Carter Center opened a field office in August 2007 and worked intensively to observe the electoral process leading up to Ecuador's Constituent Assembly elections on Sept. 30, 2007. The Carter Center subsequently monitored and reported on the Constitution-drafting, approval, and implementation process over the next two years. The reports were broadly distributed to domestic and international actors and have been regarded as sources of reliable information that serve a two-fold purpose of a) encouraging transparent and inclusive processes of constitutional change and implementation, faithful to the new constitutional rules, to engender broad public confidence in the new institutions; and b) informing and educating Ecuadorians and international actors about the process of redesigning the state in Ecuador.

In addition to supporting an inclusive and informed Constituent Assembly process, The Carter Center also supported an initiative facilitating a track 1.5 dialogue between influential individuals from Ecuador and Colombia to improve Ecuador–Colombia relations, even before the Angostura bombardment and breaking of diplomatic relations in March 2008. This group of individuals maintained its efforts following the diplomatic rupture between the two countries, while former U.S. President Jimmy Carter tried to open canals of communication between the two governments. The Carter Center also implemented in 2008 a peace and conflict analysis in two communities of the Ecuadorian northern border in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, a local NGO. This study culminated in an analytical report on peace, conflict, and development in the Northern Border region and in a document on lessons learned, which served as key contributions toward crafting public policies for development in the border zone. 

Waging Peace

Monitoring Elections
In response to an invitation by the Supreme Electoral Court (Tribunal Supremo Electoral) of Ecuador, The Carter Center fielded an electoral observation mission during the constituent assembly election held on Sept. 30, 2007. During the campaign, Carter Center representatives met with the president and vice-president of the Republic, the president of congress, dignitaries of the national and provincial governments, political leaders and candidates, members of civil society, and the media. According to reports from Carter Center observers, who worked in close collaboration with the missions of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union (EU), on Sept. 30, despite some procedural problems, Ecuadorians turned out to vote in a peaceful, orderly, and legitimate election.

The Carter Center congratulated the Ecuadorian people for their civic commitment and particularly recognized the role of the mostly young poll workers, whose creativity, honesty, and close attention to the law made the election successful, despite the complexity of the vote count. The Carter Center also expressed particular recognition to the authorities of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal for allowing observers unrestricted access to the information during the electoral process and for considering the Carter Center's suggestions.

As former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said in a message to the new Constituent Assembly, constituent assembly members now have a great responsibility to define a legal-political structure that will allow a new institutional stability to take shape, to further develop representative democracy, to guarantee the rule of law and the independence of  branches of government and accountability mechanisms, and to protect the fundamental rights of Ecuadorians.

The Carter Center fielded a second electoral observation mission during Ecuador's constitutional approval referendum on Sept. 28, 2008, in response to an invitation from Ecuador's Supreme Electoral Tribunal.  The referendum was an important opportunity for the Ecuadorian people to express their intent regarding the proposed new constitution.

After the new constitution was approved, The Carter Center  continued to monitor and report on the transition process in Ecuador.    From November 2007 to August 2009, The Carter Center produced and released reports on the principal events and decisions of the Constituent Assembly and of its successor,  the  interim Legislative and Oversight Commission.

At the end of 2008, The Carter Center monitored and reported on the process of appointment of the temporary electoral authorities of Ecuador (National Electoral Council and the Litigious Electoral Tribunal). Although they were temporary, the new electoral authorities had an important and specific purpose in organizing and judging the fairness of the general election that was held in April 2009.

The Carter Center also monitored the selection process of the interim members of the Council on Citizen Participation and Social Control (CPCCS), which took place between December 2008 and January 2009. The CPCCS is one of the key authorities in the new fourth branch of government (approved in the new Constitution) called "Transparency and Social Control." The permanent CPCCS will have a fundamental role in the selection processes of important public authorities in the new institutional order (attorney general, superintendents, ombudsman, public defender, district attorney, general controller and members of the National Electoral Council, as well as of the Contentious Electoral Tribunal and the judicial council), as well as in defining and making operational the concepts of "citizen participation" and "social control."  The Carter Center produced and disseminated a report on this selection process in February 2009.  

In March and April 2009, The Carter Center invited experts to facilitate workshops with the CPCCS to assist the drafting of the law that will regulate the permanent CPCCS, and  to inform the media on citizen participation and oversight issues.

Mediating Conflict
The Carter Center has been developing initiatives to improve relations between Ecuador and Colombia and partnered with UNDP to encourage dialogue between influential citizens in both countries. The Carter Center initiated in 2007 a dialogue process between influential individuals from Ecuador and Colombia with the objective of promoting binational cooperation on projects affecting the lives of citizens at the border and improving mutual understanding and correcting misperceptions between the societies. Ten Ecuadorians and ten Colombians characterized by their special access to the government and/or their ability to influence public opinion have participated in this dialogue process, which led to the establishment of the Bi-National Dialogue Group (BDG). This process started in Atlanta with a meeting hosted by former President Jimmy Carter on Nov. 12-14,2007, and continued through 2009 with a series of meetings and binational initiatives.

By participating in this initiative, the members of the BDG reached a much deeper understanding of the perspectives of the members from their neighboring country and strengthened their ties, even during difficult times. This initiative gained particular importance when a Colombian military operation took place on Ecuadorian soil on March 1, 2008. Despite the increase in tensions between both countries over the event, the group overcame its differences and engaged in a constructive dialogue, developing strategies for improving the relations between their countries and reducing mutual prejudices between the two societies.

Even though diplomatic relations are still to be restored, the BDG has succeeded in establishing close cooperative ties between several societal groups of both countries and helping prevent the escalation of the conflict.  Key actors from both countries better understand the needs and concerns of each other. This improved understanding has been further transmitted to the general population by means of publishing more than a hundred editorials, news articles, and reports by BDG members.

BDG members have also launched various initiatives promoting brotherhood between both countries (e.g. the "Ecuador-Colombia: the same identity" campaign in the Nariño department; the "Ecuador-Colombia: a single flag" banner at the Colombia-Ecuador soccer match in Quito), as well as a number of academic fora and binational meetings between different sectors of society.

The Carter Center and former President Carter, advised by members of the BDG, also facilitated confidence-building agreements between Ecuador and Colombia in April and May 2008.  President Carter hosted a private, informal meeting between the foreign ministers in Atlanta in May 2009 that contributed to the Sept. 23, 2009, public announcement of the intent of the two presidents to reestablish relations at the level of chargé d'affairs in October 2009.

Read more about the dialogue process between Ecuador and Colombia >
Read more about the Carter Center's work in the northern border >

Building a Model for Transparency
In 1998, with a trip by former President Jimmy Carter; his wife, Rosalynn; and Americas Program Director Dr. Jennifer McCoy, The Carter Center launched a project to help the government combat corruption in Ecuador and to develop partnerships between the political and social sectors.  At the time, Ecuador was ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in Latin America, according to Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, and partisanship had slowed development. The Center's Americas Program and Conflict Resolution Program began a project in spring 2000 to identify the issues dividing the country and bring national leaders together to discuss them. The issues included modernization of the state, fiscal decentralization via an autonomy law, and continuing corruption in the government and private sector. In late 2000, the Center worked with the political elites and experts to seek common ground on these issues.


Urging a Moratorium on Arms Sales
Although Latin America spends relatively less on defense than most other regions, expenditures on expensive weapons systems divert scarce foreign exchange from more effective investments, including education. They also compel neighbors to spend more on defense and, by doing so, generate international tensions. Concerned about an arms race in Latin America, the Carter Center's Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas urged governments in the region to pause before embarking on major arms purchases. Between April 1997 and March 1998, 28 current heads of government and 14 former heads of government signed a written pledge to accept a moratorium of two years on purchasing sophisticated weapons. Among the signatories were then Ecuador President Fabián Alarcón Rivera and former President Osvaldo Hurtado.

Learn more about the Carter Center's Americas Program.
 

Fighting Disease

Regional Eradication of River Blindness in the Americas
Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a debilitating disease spread by the bite of black flies. It causes blindness and severe skin disease in an estimated 17.7 million people worldwide. Of these cases, 500,000 are in Latin America.

In Ecuador, a single endemic focus is located in the northern part of the Esmeraldas Province among communities bordering the Cayapas, Santiago, and Onzole rivers. Since 1990, with support from The Carter Center, the Ministry of Health has been providing health education and treatment with Mectizan® (donated by Merck & Co., Inc.) to prevent river blindness.

In 2008, the Center's Onchocerciasis Elimination Program of the Americas (OEPA) determined river blindness transmission had been interrupted in the subfocus of Rio Santiago, within the Esmeraldas-Pichincha focus, and treatments were halted.

Work in other endemic communities continued and in 2010, Ecuador's Ministry of Health announced that the nation had stopped river blindness transmission. The nation will soon cease treatments in formerly endemic areas and enter a three-year surveillance phase to ensure that infection does not reoccur in the absence of Mectizan distribution. Ultimately, elimination of the parasite must be certified by the World Health Organization, whose office in the Americas is the Pan American Health Organization.

The Carter Center congratulates the people of Ecuador as only the second country in the Western Hemisphere to have halted this devastating infection and encourages other remaining endemic nations in the Americas and the rest of the world to continue to their hard work in preventing river blindness.

Learn more about the Center's River Blindness Program.