Ecuador is home to a little more than half a million people forced to flee and other people on the move. That huge number of people and their difficult stories are a thermometer of worrying situations in the world.

According to UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, there are more than 114 million displaced people worldwide. Each reflects humanity’s collective failure to ensure peace and security for all.

The Global Refugee Forum is a key moment to come together and show that our collective will can find solutions to the challenges of forced displacement.

The line between possession and loss

The forum, which is held every four years, is the largest international gathering on refugees in the world. This recognizes the great work of many countries – most of them with middle or low income, with internal difficulties – to provide a second home for those who cannot be in their own.

Countries like Ecuador, which today receives one of the largest numbers of refugees in Latin America.

States, UN agencies, the private sector, civil society, NGOs, grassroots organizations, universities, religious groups, as well as refugees from around the world will meet there to propose commitments and transformative contributions.

Ecuador has a significant role in this Forum. It positions its exemplary system of asylum and child protection through the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports; shows the contribution of the UN to the protection and integration of people in human mobility; through the Ministry of Sports and the Aucas Sports Society, shows commitment to the protection and integration of boys and girls of any nationality through sports; and the private sector is joining in with its work on the progressive inclusion of refugees and migrants in the production engine. It is worth highlighting the work of institutions such as the Office of the Public Defender, the Office of the National Defender and the Ministry of Women’s and Human Rights in protecting the rights of vulnerable persons, including refugees.

The US will establish safe mobility points for foreigners in Ecuador

The forum is not just another meeting. We do this so that refugee children can study and finish high school; so that climate change does not worsen everyone’s living conditions – or cause more displacement; so that all people – regardless of their origin – could contribute their abilities to the development of the country; so xenophobia is not the answer to those who are not guilty of fleeing.

People in human mobility do not want handouts nor are they a cause of insecurity – common perceptions that have no basis in reality. They want opportunities to build their own future.

Therefore, the Forum is an opportunity to provide large-scale support in Ecuador and beyond. Ecuador can be an example of good practice if we continue to build, together, an inclusive society with those who come to contribute to the development of a country that sees diversity as a source of wealth and growth. (OR)