The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the main channel for U.S. development assistance in Ecuador.  USAID/Ecuador assists the country in its development needs and furthers America's foreign policy interests in Ecuador in expanding democracy and free markets while improving the lives of thousands of Ecuadorians.

With headquarters in Washington, DC, and field missions in Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Near East, and Europe and Eurasia, USAID, as the U.S. government's Agency for International Development, has been implementing America's foreign economic and humanitarian assistance programs since 1961.

USAID works in close partnership with private U.S. based voluntary organizations, indigenous institutions, local and international NGOs, U.S. businesses, and other national and international agencies.

HISTORY

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supports the economic and social development of Ecuador since 1942 channeling $707.2 million in assistance. The Mission has accomplished 63 years of technical and economical cooperation in Ecuador.   USAID and its former agencies (Point Four, Inter-American Services, Alliance for Progress) have provided an important economic support for the strategies and projects that Ecuador, through public and private entities, has been implementing to reach its social and economic development target.

In response to the priorities established by Ecuador, USAID has worked throughout these 63 years towards policy dialogue, institutional strengthening, technology transfer in sectors such as health, agriculture, education, housing, promotion of trade and investment, and most recently for economic growth, conservation of biodiversity, support of democratic systems and institutions, integration of the Southern Border, and the Northern Development Program.

The bilateral Programs of Technical and Economic Assistance from the government of the United States to the government of Ecuador officially began on November 20, 1942 with the signing of agreements for public health and agricultural development projects. Between 1942 and 1960, the "Point Four" focused on health, agriculture, education sectors and in the development of small businesses and handicrafts.

The launching of the Alliance for Progress in the 1960s represented a new approach in bilateral assistance by the United States. Its approach was to promote socio-economic development and strengthening of the private sector. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was created as the executing institution of the Alliance. The assistance programs administered by USAID under the Alliance for Progress worked on the industrial sectors, basic infrastructure, housing, cooperative development and public administration.

In 1972, the Alliance for Progress´ special technical and economic assistance ended. The United States Congress mandated that USAID focused its assistance programs on projects that directly raised the standard of living and satisfied the basic needs of the poorest groups in developing countries. In the case of Ecuador, USAID’s priority was to support Ecuadorian initiatives in health, nutrition, basic education, and family planning. USAID also supported the improvement of agricultural productivity and promoted small and medium-sized businesses to create jobs and increase income for the poorest rural and urban inhabitants.

At the end of 1979 and beginning of 1980, Ecuador returned to democracy after many years of being under military governments. The United States began a new USAID assistance program for the 1980s to support the country's return to democracy. An important element of the new program was the implementation of USAID financed projects by non-profit and non-governmental organizations. In 1985 USAID began to give special attention to dialogue on macroeconomic and sectoral policies and to foster economic and social development. At the same time, USAID began to promote non-traditional agricultural exports.

The decade of the 1990s brought new development challenges and opportunities to the bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and Ecuador.  USAID’s program in Ecuador concentrated in promoting sustainable economic growth, improving basic health services and family planning, strengthening democratic institutions and citizens’ participation and finally conserving biodiversity and natural resources.