1) Ecuador is a Party to the 1980 Hague Convention.

The 1980 Hague Convention: a multilateral treaty which provides procedural guidelines on the return of children and their protection in cases of international parental child abduction.

Contact the Central Authority established in Ecuador for cases of child abduction.

2) Ecuador is a Party to the 1989 Inter-American Convention.

The 1989 Inter-American Convention: a multilateral treaty among 14 American States that, similar to the 1980 Hague Convention, secures the prompt return of children who have been wrongfully removed from their country of residence.

Contact the Central Authority established in Ecuador designated under the 1980 Hague Convention to find out whether the Inter-American Convention prevails in your case and learn how to initiate an application for return of your child.

3) Ecuador is a Party to the 1996 Hague Convention.

The 1996 Hague Convention: a multilateral treaty which determines jurisdiction, applicable law, co-operation in respect of parental responsibility and access rights, as well as civil and public measures for the protection or care of children. 

Contact the Central Authority established in Ecuador for cases of dispute concerning cross-border parental responsibilities and rights of contact with children.

You can determine whether countries relevant to your case are Parties, or not, to the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, the 1996 Hague Convention on Child Protection and/or the Inter-American Convention on the International Return Of Children in order to locate the appropriate central authority. As for the 1980 Hague Convention, you can check whether the Convention is in force between two specific States in the Spreadsheet showing acceptances of accessions to the Child Abduction Convention.

Defensoría del pueblo, Office of the Ombudsman, receives claims for poor quality or improper provision of public or private services and provides legal support in cases of the human rights violation. If you deem that you did not receive requested support from specialised public services, you should contact this institution here (website in Spanish).

Directorate for Victims and Witness Protection within the State Attorney General's Office offers medical, psychological and social assistance in order to protect violated rights of the victims and obtain timely and effective justice for them (website in Spanish). Contact the State Attorney General’s Office directly here or write an email to: comunicacionsocial(at)fiscalia.gob.ec.

El Servicio Especializado de Protección Especial (SEPE), Specialised Service of Special Protection,  within the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Cults offers free of charge psychological and social care in cases of violation of rights (website in Spanish). The professionals provide help to children, adolescents, women as well as to victims of human trafficking, migrants smuggling and in cases of international restitution of children. Please contact their central office in Quito:
Luis Felipe Borja N13
Quito 170136
Telephone: (+593) 2507392 or (+593) 2505366

Plan Familia Ecuador is the program within the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Education to prevent sexual violence and adolescent pregnancy (website in Spanish). They can refer you to the specialised institutions that provide family and social assistance. Here is their contact information:
a 6 de Diciembre N33-42 y Bossano Edi. Titanium,
Quito, Ecuador
Telephone : (+593) 22837000

Fondo Ecuatoriano de Cooperación para el Desarrollo (FECD)  is a private non-profit organisation that works to improve in a sustainable manner the living conditions of the most vulnerable groups in Ecuador such as productive and marketing capacity and the quality of farmers' lives, within a framework of human development. You can contact them directly here.

Centro sobre Derecho y Sociedad (CIDES) is a private non-profit organisation that focuses its efforts primarily on impoverished, vulnerable and violated economic, social and cultural rights in rural and marginal urban areas of Ecuador (website in Spanish). It works with indigenous nationalities, with Afro-Ecuadorians, peasants and women. It also provides community mediation services.

Caritas Ecuador seeks to improve access to mother and child healthcare in marginalised communities and rural areas. Several local programmes include initiatives to strengthen access to financial services, thus creating self-employment alternatives for people in situations of human mobility. To contact Caritas Ecuador, choose your region here (website in Spanish).

Asociación Solidaridad y Acción (ASA) is a non-profit civil society organisation providing family support, education services for children and young people as well as family and community integration services that aim to improve the quality of life in marginal urban neighbourhoods in northern Quito. You can contact them directly here or send them an email in the form here (website is in Spanish).

The National Directorate of Specialised Police for Children and Adolescents (DINAPEN) prevents, investigates and monitors the respect of the rights of children and adolescents. You can contact them here (website in Spanish).

Judicial Units of Family, Women, Children and Adolescents offer protection services for minors in all provinces of Ecuador. To contact them in your town please search for “Unidad Judicial de Familia, Mujer, Niñez y Adolescencia” here (website in Spanish).

SOS Children's Villages in Ecuador works with local organisations and the community to support vulnerable families so that children can grow up within their own family. The organisation ensures that families have access to food, medical care and also provide day-care for young children. You can contact its regional offices directly here (website in Spanish).

Centro de Iniciativas Sociales Latinoamericanas (CISOL), the Center for Latin American Social Initiatives, is a non-governmental non-profit organisation that supports less favoured children of the south of the Ecuador by providing psychological and educational services as well as protecting them from the child labour. You can contact them directly here (website in Spanish).

Fundación Niñez y Vida is a non-governmental organisation focusing its energy on the most integral areas of the child’s development: health, education, nutrition and the family unit. The foundation offers multiple children’s centres in the poor neighbourhoods of western Quito and in the province of Chimborazo. Please find their contact information at the bottom of the page here (website in Spanish).

Children International – Ecuador is a non-profit organisation which focuses on children’s health and nutrition as well as social and financial education that the organisation provides at its community centres to overcome poverty in the country.

El Servicio Especializado de Protección Especial (SEPE), Specialised Service of Special Protection,  within the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Cults offers free of charge psychological and social care in cases of violation of rights (website in Spanish). The professionals provide help to children, adolescents, women, as well as to victims of human trafficking, migrants smuggling and in case of international restitution of children. Please contact their central office in Quito:

Luis Felipe Borja N13

170136 Quito, Ecuador

Telephone: (+593) 2507392 or (+593) 2505366

HIAS Ecuador is non-governmental organisation providing refugee families with individual psychosocial assistance for cases of forced displacement. HIAS offers guidance to most vulnerable refugees such as information related to refugee status determination and local integration, or in connection with voluntary repatriation, resettlement or alternative durable solutions. The organisation also provides a program, the Graduation Model Approach (GMA), focusing on refugee families who live in extreme poverty. Families are guided step-by-step through a personalised path to a help them move out of extreme poverty. You can contact their office in your region directly here (website in Spanish).

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) provides Colombian refugees in Ecuador with legal assistance and counselling and helps refugees exercise their housing, land and property rights. You can contact their offices in Tulcán at (+593) 2988907 and Lago Agrio at (+593) 2832934 as well as their office in Esmeraldas at:
Calle Hilda Padilla s/n y Av. 1era del Pacífico (antes Av. Kennedy)
Esmeraldas, Ecuador
Telephone: (+593) 2460331
Email: co.nrc(at)nrc.no