It is common to hear how some politicians, when they talk about Ecuadorian children and adolescents, say that they make up the future of the country, which is not only ironic, but also a complete delusion.

If the present of these creatures is deplorable, then how can it be claimed that they are the future of the homeland when, for the most part, the future does not exist for them or, if they imagine one, it is, unfortunately, not the most promising.

With insecure nutrition and malnutrition bordering on 27.2% among children under 2 years of age, with no basis for a decent life, no schooling or, in the best case, with a poor education and victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse by relatives and foreigners, to claim that they are the future of the country is tantamount to blasphemy.

How can we confirm that they are when, according to the digital newspaper Primicias of the 13th of this month, in 2022, out of 53,847 pregnancies, 3,386 were among girls aged 10 to 14, while the remaining 50,461 were identified in adolescent girls aged 15 to 19. In other words, girls who take care of children as mothers, victims of rape, with a body not ready for motherhood, live an adult life until they have finished childhood. They stop learning to take care of an unwanted creature, which comes into the world with weaknesses due to inadequate pregnancy and nutrition.

Although the number of pregnant girls and adolescents in Ecuador is alarming, there is another data that is also worrying, adds the source: pregnancies terminated due to obstetric complications. According to data from the Ministry of Health, of the 53,847 pregnancies registered in 2022, 13,926 of them presented problems that prevented the birth of children. The Government’s goal is to reduce adolescent pregnancy by 2031… In order to prevent as many girls and adolescent girls from having problems during pregnancy as possible, the Ministry of Health published the “Regulations on care during pregnancy” and the “Regulations for the prevention and detection of violence against girls and adolescents” which aim to reduce risks during pregnancy.

The questions we ask ourselves, therefore, are what we are doing to prevent and whether the provisions of these regulations are respected, whether they have reached the ideal places for their application and whether there really is a will in prefectures, municipalities, parish councils, educational centers, the media and in neighborhood organizations to achieve their expansion and proper application.

This is one of the many problems facing the population of Ecuador. We are interested in whether the plans of the candidates for the President of the Republic and for the members of parliament include these purposes and the way of their realization.

We cannot continue to ignore these painful realities. Malnourished people can never reach the level of normal intellectual or physical development. That’s why we reject the slogan that children and adolescents are the future of the country, and, we repeat, they don’t have that either and are just another victim of the violent and unjust system in which we live. (OR)