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Ecuador’s Corruption Fight: A Roadmap to Transparency and Accountability

In a country where 37% of public contracting is represented by corrupt practices, Ecuador has taken a crucial step towards eradicating corruption and promoting transparency in government.

Diagnostic Report Highlights Key Areas for Reform

A recent diagnostic report by the Fundación Ciudad y Desarrollo (FCD) highlights the need for comprehensive regulatory reform, institutional strengthening, and capacity building to achieve this goal. The report identifies three priority areas:

  • Public Procurement: A Key Area of Reform
  • Civil Service Careers: Ensuring Merit-Based Recruitment and Promotion
  • Fighting Corruption: Strengthening Judicial Independence and Institutional Capacity

Public Procurement: A Key Area of Reform

The report recommends a comprehensive overhaul of Ecuador’s National Public Procurement System, ensuring greater transparency, competitiveness, and accountability in public contracting. This includes adapting web-based dashboards used by countries like Colombia and Chile to improve transparency and reduce costs.

Civil Service Careers: Ensuring Merit-Based Recruitment and Promotion

Despite having adequate norms in place, the report highlights gaps in knowing the number of employees within the public bureaucracy and a need for reforms in appointing high-level officials. The priority areas include:

  • Amending the Law of Sworn Asset Declarations to include all family members and positions, both public and private
  • Implementing measures to ensure merit-based recruitment and promotion

Fighting Corruption: Strengthening Judicial Independence and Institutional Capacity

The report emphasizes the importance of judicial independence in combating corruption and impunity. Priorities include:

  • Updating regulations on transparency and access to public information
  • Reforming regulatory bodies
  • Strengthening institutional and individual capacities to promote transparency

Other key reforms include:

  • Updating Ecuador’s Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information (LOTAIP) to incorporate international standards
  • Strengthening oversight in the judiciary and law enforcement to prevent conflicts of interest
  • Adopting measures to control money-laundering, prevent corruption, and penalize corporate or individual interference

Conclusion

The diagnostic report was conducted by FCD’s research team, with support from PADF and Multienlace consultancy firm. The full report is available in Spanish at [https://padf.org/ wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Informde-consultoria-con-portada.pdf](https://padf.org/ wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Informe-de-consultoria-con-portada.pdf).

As Ecuador embarks on this journey towards transparency and accountability, it is crucial that all stakeholders, including government officials, civil society organizations, and the private sector, work together to ensure a corruption-free future for the country.