The Asociación Rafalex’s Efforts To Secure The Rights Of Cuenca’s Most Vulnerable
February, 2021
Westbury, New York — The Asociación Rafalex supports many of Cuenca’s most vulnerable people and fights to end child labor and begging. In 2020 they organized the Child Eradication Project to help 200 families and keep over 600 children in school.
While child labor rates in Ecuador have made significant strides in the past decade, our recent data shows that approximately 8.2% of children ages 5–14, or more than 302,000 children are still exploited in the practice of child labor. The unfortunate driving force behind this is poverty, malnutrition and lack of access to services, housing and even potable water.
Based in Cuenca and founded in 2012, the non-profit private law organization promotes itself on funding development projects and initiatives in their community which protects the rights and business interests of the community, further violence prevention, and assists families with economic and medical opportunities.
Former Coordinator and Technician of the Human Mobility Project at the Asociación Rafalex, Evelyn Astudillo Palomeque says the foundation assists minors and migrants with social services, psychological attention, and provides legal assistance regarding immigration.
“Para nosotros lo más importante es poder mantener en ejecución los proyectos que tenemos para poder seguir apoyando a las familias que son participantes de nuestros proyectos.” Siad Palomeque, “También apoyar a personas migrantes que han venido a la ciudad de Cuenca, en especial población Venezolana.”
Since the 2018 Venezuelan election, over 400,000 Venezuelans have fled to Ecuador and other neighboring countries according to The World Bank’s Cristina Medina. Medina argues the influx of talented and young labor can be a net positive for Ecuador however the UN concluded that Ecuador is at risk for an 11% drop in their GDP due to the pandemic. The Wall Street Journal’s Greg Ip reported Ecuador’s economic recovery will be treacherous mainly due to a lack of fiscal and monetary policy from the government, and weak trade.
Dr. Andres Mideros-Mora, economist and faculty member at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Economía, says the biggest driver of poverty in Ecuador is income inequality. From 2007 to 2014 poverty was reduced from 36% to 22.5%, resulting in an economy where average people benefited financially compared to the wealthy.
“This was a period of proper economic growth and was the best driver to fight against income poverty and was a good period actually,” said Mideros-Mora. “ Today the pandemic threatens to send Ecuador back 15 years in terms of economic growth.”
Since 2014, Ecuador’s GDP has been on a decline and this has worsened due to the pandemic. Mideros-Mora says the poverty rate in Ecuador hangs at 25% and is expected to rise to 28–29%.
Since the founding of the Asociación Rafalex in 2012, the projects they’ve completed have been deemed eligible for public funding. However, Palomeque says her greatest challenge this year has been securing enough funds to maintain current programs in the organization.
“Los proyectos que nosotros ejecutamos tienen financiamiento directo del Ministerio de Inclusión Económica y Social (MIES), sin embargo los montos económicos que contemplan los proyectos son limitados,“ Siad Palomeque. “La mayor parte del tiempo tenemos que buscar donaciones extras para apoyar de mejor manera a las familias.”
This year Palomeque says her most important goal is to maintain current operations that support families and to manage funds for projects with international organizations. She says the most important thing other people can do is join, donate or find some other way to support local organizations like theirs. She did note that “I can always use more hands.”
