Ecuador

GMW national coordinator: Superintendency of Popular and Solidarity Economy (Superintendencia de Economía Popular y Solidaria) Participating organisations: Sparkassenstiftung para la Cooperación Internacional, 63 savings and credit cooperatives, Banco de Guayaquil, Asesoría Empresarial Latinoamericana WOCCULATAM S.A., World Council of Credit Unions INC. (WOCCU), Fundación para Promover las Finanzas Inclusivas y la Gobernanza – FIG, Finanzas Inclusivas y Gobernanza – FIG, Superintendencia de Economía Popular y Solidaria, Cooperativa Atuntaqui, Cooperativa COOPAD, Cooperativa Maquita, Cooperativa Cotogchoa, Cooperativa Pedro Moncayo, Cooperativa 23 de Julio, Cooperativa SAC, Cooperativa Chibuleo, Cooperativa Luz del Valle, Cooperativa Nueva Huancavilca, Cooperativa 9 de Octubre, Cooperativa Once de Junio, CRISFE Foundation Total number of participating organisations: 83 Number of children and young people reached directly: 24,517 Number of adults reached directly: 390 Number of people reached indirectly: 613,841

The Superintendence of Popular and Solidarity Economy took the lead in organising GMW 2021 in Ecuador. This year’s events and activities were held with the support and strategic cooperation of 63 savings and credit cooperatives, one private bank and five private entities. Many educational activities were organised, aimed at children and young people in 24 provinces of Ecuador during the whole period of the GMW Campaign. Events were a great opportunity to discover basic financial concepts through trainings, workshops, contests, interviews, conferences, interactive games, and more. The emphasis was on the importance of the good use of money, differences between needs and wants, setting savings goals, responsible credit or indebtedness, investment, planning personal and family finances to make informed and responsible decisions.

Specific digital materials and tools were made available as 95% of the children and young people participated in the GMW 2021 virtually. The remaining 5% carried out their recreational activities in person, because their location and target group were in rural areas, where access to the internet is limited.

Each participating entity published photos, videos and information related to the Global Money Week Campaign, which this year was held under the theme of “Take care of yourself, take care of your money.” News of all these activities were linked through social networks and the GMW website.

For this year’s Global Money Week, Finanzas Inclusivas y Gobernanza (FIG) developed a course for young people called “reach your dream” that included five animated micro learning videos that guided them though a game, with the scenario of climbing a mountain to achieve their dream, completing stages with learning objectives. It started from knowing where the money comes from, the difference between spending and desire, planning the savings goal to achieve the dream, and deciding to open a savings account. This course was implemented in a virtual learning platform, with personalised classrooms for 15 savings and credit cooperatives nationwide, reaching more than 1,500 young people. The course continues throughout the year. In addition, the CRISFE Foundation organised a virtual conference called “Money is enough!” during which participants could test their financial knowledge and behaviour.