The Assault on Human Rigths and the Resilience of the Andean Dream: Health Inequities in Ecuador. IV Annual Distinguished Lecture sponsored by the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health; School of Public Health; University of Michigan

The point of departure for these reflections is life, since its protection is the central purpose encouraging the defense of human rights and of public health. Life in the Andes has an exceptional diversity. Particularly in Ecuador, my country, this diversity constitutes a characteristic sign that is expressed in two main forms: natural megadiversity and multiculturalism. Indeed, Ecuador’s small territory synthesizes practically all types of lifezones that exist on Earth, having received the gift of high average rates of solar energy and abundant nutritional sources, which have facilitated the natural reproduction of countless species that show their beautiful vitality in the variety of ecosystems that compose the Andean mountain range, the tropical plains, the Amazon humid forests, and the Galapagos Islands. But besides being a highly biodiverse country, it is also a plurinational and multi-cultural society, in which the activity of human beings, organized into social conglomerates of different historical and cultural backgrounds, have formed more than a dozen nations and peoples. Regrettably this natural and human wealth has not been able to bear its best fruits due to the violent operation of a deep social inequity – unfortunately also one of the highest in the Americas—which conspires against life and is reproduced in national and international inequitable relations. This structural inequity has changed its form throughout the centuries and currently has reached its highest and most perverse level of development.

Territorios olvidados, derechos incumplidos: afroecuatorianos en áreas rurales y su lucha por tierra, igualdad y seguridad; un reporte de la delegación Rapoport en derechos de tierra afroecuatorianos

Debido al reciente reconocimiento en la Constitución ecuatoriana de 2008 de los afroecuatorianos como un grupo con derechos colectivos a sus territorios ancestrales, el Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice ha dirigido un estudio legal sobre la política relacionada con los derechos territoriales de las comunidades rurales afroecuatorianas. El estudio incluye el trabajo de una delegación de investigadores que visitaron Quito, Esmeraldas y el Valle del Chota en la primavera de 2009. Este reporte está basado en información colectada en reuniones llevadas a cabo en Ecuador, entre delegados del Centro Rapoport y los miembros de la comunidad afroecuatoriana, activistas, académicos y oficiales del Estado. El reporte examina la situación que enfrentan comunidades afroecuatorianas rurales y su lucha por los derechos territoriales.