News

Although the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly interrupted the activities that had been carried out in the territory, Insuco Ecuador maintained active channels of communication with local actors in order to continue strengthening territorial dialogue. Thus, in December 2020, the Decentralized Autonomous Government (GAD) of Los Encuentros, together with Insuco, launched a process of working groups with various territorial stakeholders. This process is a continuation of the Thematic Roundtables, spaces for multi-stakeholder dialogue, facilitated by Insuco, which began in 2016 under an agreement with the mining company Lundin Gold in the parish of Los Encuentros, canton Yantzaza, province of Zamora Chinchipe, Ecuador.

In this new stage, it is the GAD who is leading the Working Groups, whose objective is to coordinate the actors of the territory to reach a consensus on actions and shared commitments for the benefit of the communities of the parish. To date, we have held three meetings of the Working Groups, two in a semi-presential manner and one virtually, which involved the realization of capacity building sessions on the use of virtual tools for the GAD’s members and community actors. The Working Groups’ meetings were a success, with high participation rates, which allowed the GAD and other key stakeholders to finally be able to continue implementing activities in the territory despite the COVID-19 context.

In addition to supporting the promotion of multi-stakeholder dialogue as a way to work together for the benefit of local communities, Insuco was also able to participate in the management of the health emergency by donating oxygen tanks to the hospital in Yantzaza. 

In the current context, we invite all of you to continue working for local development, being aware of and respecting the different health and biosafety protocols established by the regulatory institutions such as the WHO and the Ministries of Health.