Publication
UNICEF Annual Report 2017 Ecuador

On 16 April 2016 a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific northwest area of Ecuador, its epicentre situated close to Muisne and Pedernales municipalities in the northern part of the country and170 km northwest of the capital, Quito. The earthquake directly affected 720,000 people, of whom 350,000 were in need of urgent assistance. Immediate needs were safe water, sanitation and hygiene, emergency and temporary shelter, health, protection (including psychosocial support and child protection), food assistance and education. By early January 2017 some 5,544 people were still living in 24 official camps managed by the Government of Ecuador, nearly half of whom (2,846) were children and adolescents, and more than 4,030 people were living in 63 informal refugee shelters. In 2017 UNICEF Ecuador’s emergency strategy shifted toward sector coordination and building local institutional capacity, and focused on developing resilient systems in all sectors to deliver long-term development results.