Unlike other countries in the South American region, Ecuador has managed to gradually reduce poverty levels broadly despite the turbulent global conditions due to COVID-19 and the conflict in Ukraine. Since 2021, there has been a 2.5 percentage points decrease in poverty incidence which, whilst moderate, represents a positive trajectory considering the global context of universal inflation. Impressively, Ecuador has reduced both rural and urban poverty, whilst also experiencing a slight, albeit brief, decrease in multidimensional poverty.

However, these quantitative measures do not tell the whole story. Whilst economic factors play a fundamental role in both causing and rectifying poverty, social factors play a pivotal role in addressing poverty where certain communities feel neglected and underserved. Estimates show that 6% of the Ecuadorian population has disabilities, and pervasive cultural attitudes continue to undermine that community which deprives them of crucial support. However, crucial work from both local and international NGOs is helping to improve the social landscape for disabled people and unravelling the link between poverty and stigma in Ecuador.

Focus on Inclusive Education

Hearts of Gold Foundation raises thousands of dollars each year to fund projects supporting children with special educational needs through curated, inclusive education models. Crucially, these models involve integrating children with special educational needs alongside mainstream children, ensuring a holistic, blended experience that helps to shatter stigma.

The program has helped bring 95 children together in the last year to promote values of diversity and community involvement, which has provided increasing educational opportunities for young children with special needs, allowing them to gain more qualifications and access to alternative vocational training.

More broadly, Hearts of Gold has a key focus on counselling and support for the most vulnerable communities in Ecuador, which permeates through their other projects. It funds numerous mental health counselling projects for young people and mothers in poor communities with the intention to break the poverty stigma in Ecuador, which particularly dismisses those with cognitive and intellectual disabilities because of their more abstract nature.

The Battle Against Cultural Perceptions

Whilst Ecuador has made clear progress with their social welfare programs, disabled people experience disproportionate poverty due to limited access to health services and obstructive employment practices rooted in discrimination.

Registration difficulties perpetuate this cycle of poverty, as approximately half of the 6% of disabled people in Ecuador are formally registered, underscoring the difficulty of that community to become integrated within education and employment, according to UNPRPD. These stigmatized processes are entrenched within Ecuadorian society through a plethora of ways, intersecting with gender, ethnicity and geographical location.

Women and girls with disabilities find it difficult to access health services and gender-based violence support, trapping them in a cycle of poverty and oppression, UNPRPD reports. Moreover, indigenous people with with disability in Ecuardor face additional challenges rooted in formal registration difficulties and co-existing oppression, with the overwhelming cultural attitude in Ecuador correlating disability with incapacity.

Disability and Poverty Stigma in Ecuador

Causes for Change International has helped to overcome disability stigma in Ecuador through a community-based approach that specifically focuses on access to healthcare facilities. Ultimately, this local approach has benefited disabled people in poorer communities that are more likely to face multidimensional poverty, and the focus on developing local healthcare facilities for disabled women further helps to address these specific stigmatized processes.

Ecuador faces numerous challenges that seek to obstruct its progress on social development and poverty reduction. However, both international and local organizations have prioritized community initiatives which integrates children and women with disabilities, allowing them to access basic facilities that up until now, had not been granted. Continuing projects like these are vital for showcasing that disabled people should not be disregarded by cultural perceptions and challenging these cultivated attitudes will help to reduce poverty further.

– Oscar McClintock

Oscar is based in Cambridge, UK and focuses on Global Health for The Borgen Project.

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