Jump to a specific section of the profile:

Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country Summary

Mine contamination in the Republic of Ecuador results from the border conflict with Peru, which culminated with the 1995 Cenepa War. After signing the 1998 Brasilia Peace Accords, ending the dispute, demining and humanitarian aid operations began in the border area.

The mined section of the border was predominantly in the Condor mountain range that was at the center of the dispute. Since the peace accord was signed, Ecuador and Peru have both emphasized bilateral cooperation, mutual trust, and transparency between their national mine action agencies, Ecuador’s National Center for Humanitarian Demining (Centro de Desminado del Ecuador, CENDESMI) and Peru’s Mine Action Coordination Center (Centro Peruano de Acción contra las Minas Antipersonal, CONTRAMINAS), in order to resolve the landmine problem.[1]

Under the 2000 Binational Cooperation Program, Ecuador and Peru adopted a Binational Manual for Humanitarian Demining in April 2013 to unify their demining procedures in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS). A joint Binational Humanitarian Demining Unit (Unidad Binacional de Desminado Humanitario, UBDH) was created, and commenced operations in 2016. Risk education is also conducted as part of this binational cooperation program.[2]

The remaining landmine contamination in Ecuador is small, with 0.04km² (40,056m²) containing an estimated 2,941 mines, in the remote province of Zamora Chinchipe.[3] Ecuador’s National Plan for Humanitarian Demining 2019–2022 was delayed, as no clearance operations took place in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

No landmine or explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties have been reported since 2015, while Ecuador has no cluster munition remnants contamination in areas under its jurisdiction or control.[5]

Treaty Status

Treaty status overview

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline extension request

Ecuador has requested, and been granted, three extensions to its Article 5 clearance deadline since becoming a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty in 1999. Under the latest extension, Ecuador is required to clear and destroy all antipersonnel mines in contaminated areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 31 December 2022.[6]

Ecuador ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions in May 2010.[7] Ecuador has not reported any contamination in areas under its jurisdiction or control, and has not reported any victims.[8]

Management and Coordination

Mine action

Mine action management and coordination overview[9]

Coordination

Ecuador’s national mine action program is managed by CENDESMI. It is an interministerial body chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, and is made up of the ministries of Defense and Health, the Army Corps of Engineers’ Battalion No. 68, known as “COTOPAXI,” and the General Command for Demining and Explosive Ordnance Disposal.[10]

Strategies and policies

In its 2017 Article 5 deadline extension request Ecuador included a National Plan for Humanitarian Demining 2018–2022, which detailed techniques, resources, mitigating factors, opportunities, and risks, as well as setting annual clearance targets and outlining an annual demining budget.[11]

An updated plan for 2019–2022 was submitted in 2018. It provided yearly projections for clearance of the 0.08km² (80.238m²) of remaining contamination, in 34 confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) and 26 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs), to complete the process by 2022.[12] In 2019, Ecuador declared that part of the initially identified 0.08km² was on Peruvian territory.[13] Only 12% of the 2019 clearance target was met, while no clearance took place in 2020 due to COVID-19.

During the Organization of American States (OAS) Regional Dialogue in February 2021, Ecuador requested international technical and financial support to meet its clearance obligations.[14]

Legislation and standards

CENDESMI was formed by Executive Decree. There is no other national mine action legislation.

Under the 2000 Binational Cooperation Program, Ecuador and Peru adopted a Binational Manual for Humanitarian Demining in April 2013 to unify their demining procedures in line with IMAS.[15]

In 2020, the United States (US) Department of State reported that a Requirements Determination Site Survey of the Ecuadorian “COTOPAXI” Battalion was conducted, in cooperation with Mines Advisory Group (MAG), to identify capabilities and shortfalls in clearance and casualty care.[16]

Information management

Ecuador uses an Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database.[17]

Cross-border cooperation

In 2021, CENDESMI reported that it had held 21 meetings with Peru’s CONTRAMINAS since the creation of the Binational Cooperation Program in 2000, while the Ecuadorian Army Corps of Engineers held 25 coordination meetings with the General Directorate of Humanitarian Demining of the Peruvian Armed Forces. Three technical meetings for data sharing were also reported.[18]

During the Tenth Meeting of National Mine Action Authorities from Ecuador and Peru, on 19 June 2019, Peru officially communicated to Ecuador that it had finalized the non-technical survey of a minefield named “PV_La Media,” and determined that the area was in Peruvian territory, reducing the size of the remaining hazardous areas for Ecuador to clear in Zamora Chinchipe province.[19]

OAS, through its Program of Comprehensive Action Against Antipersonnel Mines (Acción Integral contra las Minas Antipersonal, AICMA), acts as a coordination platform and monitoring body for humanitarian demining in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and has promoted resolution CP/CSH-478/02, “The Americas as an Antipersonnel Land Mine Free Zone.”[20] OAS held a two-day virtual Regional Dialogue on Humanitarian Demining on 10–11 February 2021, in which Ecuador and Peru jointly presented a session on the challenges and progress of clearance.[21]

Risk education

Risk education management and coordination overview

Coordination

CENDESMI and CONTRAMINAS collaborate in the implementation of binational risk education campaigns to ensure that border communities in Ecuador and Peru are aware of the danger posed by landmines. The campaigns are bilingual and multisectoral, and involve the ministries of health, education, defense, and interior, and have been conducted every two years in Ecuador since 2015.[22]

Standards

Ecuador has not reported on any national risk education standards or operational plans.

Victim assistance

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[23]

Coordination

The National Council on Disability Equality (Consejo Nacional para la Igualdad de las Discapacidades, CONADIS) was one of five National Equality Councils created by Ecuador in 2014. It is composed of five representatives of persons with disabilities (one per ‘type’ including physical, intellectual, psychosocial, hearing, and visual impairment), and five state representatives from the executive, legislative, judicial, electoral, and transparency and social control branches.[24]

In May 2016, Decree No. 1047 dissolved the Technical Secretariat for Disability and responsibility for disability issues in Ecuador was transferred to CONADIS. It has issued annual accountability reports since 2017, and developed a proposal to reform the Organic Law on Disabilities.[25] In 2020, CONADIS held 24 virtual dialogues to share its proposal with citizens, and gathered the input of 1,053 representatives of persons with disabilities on the 94 propositions and comments.[26]

Between 2017 and 2020, no CONADIS accountability reports mentioned mine/ERW survivors.

Laws and policies

There was no existing legislation specially on assistance for mine/ERW victims.

In 2014, Ecuador enacted the Organic Law on Disabilities and its implementing regulations, which should ensure the rights and timely provision of support and services for persons with disabilities. The law is aligned with rights established in the Constitution of Ecuador and international treaties, as well as those derived from related laws, with gender, generational, and intercultural aspects.[27]

In 2018, Ecuador passed resolutions for persons with disabilities related to civil registry services, transport use, tax exemptions for the importation of equipment, and validity of disability cards.[28]

In October 2019, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities welcomed a series of measures in Ecuador that facilitated further inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities, such as the National Agenda for the Equality of Persons with Disabilities 2017–2021, and inclusion of disability issues within the National Development Plan 2017–2021.[29] However, the committee highlighted that Ecuador should further align its legislative framework with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) to include gender and minorities in its policies and set up an independent mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the CRPD.[30]

The public policies within the National Agenda for the Equality of Persons with Disabilities 2017–2021, entitled “Lifelong Rights,” are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ecuador’s constitution, the CRPD, the Organic Law on Disabilities, and the National Development Plan. It contains 12 public policy points along with strategies, actions, indicators, and goals agreed by working groups comprising 119 delegates from 46 institutions.[31]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination overview (as of December 2020)[32]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Landmine contamination

Ecuador’s mine contamination results from the 1995 border conflict with Peru. The most heavily mined section of the border was the Condor mountain range, which was at the center of the dispute. The initial extent of mine contamination in Ecuador was reported to be 629,081m².[33]

Prioritization of clearance has been guided by population density near contaminated areas, and the extent to which landmines pose a barrier to social and economic development, leaving the remote contaminated areas to be cleared last.[34] Only one of Ecuador’s 24 provinces—Zamora Chinchipe, located in the south along the border with Peru—is still contaminated. This area is considered the most difficult to access due to geographical and meteorological conditions.[35]

At the end of December 2018, Ecuador reported 80,238m² of contaminated land across four zones in Zamora Chinchipe.[36] Yet in its Article 7 report for calendar year 2019, it reported 40,056m² of contamination across three zones. This reduction of 40,182m² was not matched by its land release figure for 2019 of 2,898.5m². In June 2019, Ecuador reported that a minefield, “PV_La Media,” had been surveyed and was determined to be in Peruvian territory, reducing the total.[37] The size of the “PV_La Media” minefield was reported to be 41,315m².[38] Despite the discrepancies in figures, the estimate of remaining contamination of 0.04km² was thought to be accurate.

Ecuador’s Article 7 report for 2020 included the same figure for remaining contamination, across three zones in Zamora Chinchipe province, made up of 27 CHAs and 26 SHAs.[39]

Casualties

Casualties overview

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

No mine/ERW casualties have been reported in Ecuador since 2015.

Addressing the Impact

Mine action

Clearance operators

Note: EOD=explosive ordnance disposal.

Clearance

Land release overview[40]

Land release

Since Ecuador began demining operations in 2000, it has cleared over 0.55km² of contaminated land, and cleared and destroyed 12,193 antipersonnel mines, 74 antivehicle mines, and 35 ERW.[41]

In May 2019, Ecuador submitted an updated workplan for the implementation of its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 obligations, as requested by the Sixteenth Meeting of States Parties.[42] The workplan included a program for landmine clearance in the last remaining contaminated province of Zamora Chinchipe between 2019 and 2022.

Ecuador planned to clear 23,383m² of contaminated land and destroy 478 antipersonnel landmines in 2019. It failed to meet this target, clearing 2,899m² and destroying 62 mines. Total land cleared in 2019 was significantly less than in 2018 and 2017. Since 2015, planned budget allocations have not been met and annual clearance targets have not been achieved, with the exception of 2018.[43]

Demining operations in Ecuador were suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was reported to have delayed planning and affected Ecuador’s ability to finish clearance by 2022.[44]

A revised workplan for 2020–2021 presented at the Regional Dialogue on Humanitarian Demining in February 2021 proposed the release of 23 areas totalling 21,010m² in 2021, and 30 areas totalling 19,046m² in 2022. Ecuador requested US$7 million to support clearance in 2021–2022.[45]

Risk education

Operators and service providers

CENDESMI provides risk education in affected areas, including as part of the binational program with Peru’s CONTRAMINAS.

Beneficiary numbers

A total of 250 people received risk education in Ecuador in 2019. No age and gender disaggregated data was available.[46] No risk education beneficiaries were reached in Ecuador in 2020.

Implementation

Six risk education campaigns have been conducted jointly with Peru.[47] On 26–27 September 2019, the sixth Binational Mine Risk Education Campaign was carried out in cooperation with Peru, targeting local authorities, leaders, communities, and media organizations from the areas of Chinapintza and Machinaza, in Zamora Chinchipe province.[48]

The seventh campaign, planned in Peru for 2020, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and rescheduled for September 2021.[49] The campaigns were reportedly bilingual and multisectoral, involving ministries of health, education, defense, and interior.[50]

Target groups

Risk education in Ecuador was provided to populations living near contaminated areas, as part of clearance operations. Communities living or working close to the Peru-Ecuador border are reached through Binational Mine Risk Education campaigns. In Zamora Chinchipe, 14 communities and five ethnic groups live near mined areas, which limit access to resources and affect children going to school.[51] Ecuador reported that via risk education activities, community members were the main source of information on the location of contaminated areas, in absence of records or maps.[52]

Delivery methods

Risk education in Ecuador is a multisectoral activity, including the participation of the ministries of defense, education, health, and interior. No information was provided by Peru or Ecuador on the methodologies, materials, or means of communication used during risk education campaigns.

Major developments in 2020

No risk education activities were reported in Ecuador in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[53]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance operators[54]

No specific mine/ERW victim assistance activities were reported by Ecuador in 2020.[55]

Needs assessment

In 2020, the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control ordered the registration of 103 ex-combatants from the 1995 Cenepa border conflict, as beneficiaries of the Law on Recognition of National Heroes and Heroines.[56]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Until the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) MoveAbility Foundation was liquidated by ICRC in 2020, it had supported CONADIS, local service providers, and the Ministry of Public Health to improve physical rehabilitation policies and services in Ecuador. It had also supported CONADIS in facilitating discussions between the authorities of Ecuador, El Salvador, and Nicaragua on applying the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health in measuring disability. The MoveAbility Foundation had also worked with the Ministry of Public Health to bolster the capacity of the national physical rehabilitation system in Ecuador.[57]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

The Association of Decorated Combatants with Disabilities “Heroes of Cenepa”—a member of the Latin America Network of Mine/ERW Survivors and other People with Disabilities (Red Latinoamerica de sobrevivientes de minas antipersonal, restos explosivos de guerra y otras Personas con Discapacidad, RED-LAT)—provided psychological support to survivors and their families, as well as to families of the deceased. RED-LAT works with the Ministry of National Defense, Joint Command of the Armed Forces, General Command of the Army, Institute of Social Security of the Armed Forces, and the National Council for Equality of Disabilities.[58]

In 2020, CONADIS signed a cooperation agreement with the National Federation of Ecuadorians with Physical Disabilities (La Federación Nacional de Ecuatorianos con Discapacidad Física, FENEDIF) to promote inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workplace.[59] CONADIS also developed a handbook on disability inclusion in the workplace on an e-learning platform.[60]