Message of solidarity with the people of Ecuador

Comunicat de la UAB davant l'emergència a l'Equador

Because of the serious consequences of the earthquake that on 16 April struck the coast of Ecuador, the UAB wishes to express its solidarity with the people of Ecuador. That is why the university supports initiatives by the Ecuadorian university community and has also donated €1000 to MSF through the Solidarity Fund managed by the FAS.

02/05/2016

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake has caused so far the death of 655 people, and there are more than 17,600 people injured, according to official government figures. Over one million people were affected by building collapse and whole towns were destroyed. It is estimated that there are 29,000 displaced people. The Ecuadorian authorities have declared state of emergency in six provinces and they fear that the death count could rise as rescue teams dig through the rubble.

The serious consequences of this natural disaster generate a need for immediate assistance oriented to cover rescue actions and the provision of immediate needs. The government has deployed soldiers and policemen to the affected areas to help in these tasks, together with entities specialized in humanitarian emergencies. The office of the Vice-rector for Students and Cooperation has donated €1000 to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF ) through the emergency fund of the Solidarity Fund managed by the FAS, which is funded by donations from students, PAS and PDI and the university itself.

At the same time, Ecuadorian students living in Spain have organised solidarity actions to help those affected by the quake. The UAB School of Engineeringwith the collaboration of the OSM (OpenStreetMap) Catalan community and the HOT (Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team) have promoted the participation in a Mapathon, in order to help improve the cartography of the areas affected by the quakes that have struck the coast of Ecuador. Around 20 UAB students attended the activity that took place on 27 April to help in the digitalization of information.

On Thursday 5 May the Plaça Cívica will hold an activity promoted by Ecuadorian students and the Consulate General of Ecuador in Barcelona, which will run parallel to other activities in other Catalan universities. The aim of these activities is to raise funds for the #AquíMeTienesEcuadorcrowdfunding campaign. Previously, on 30 April there was another cultural solidarity eventin Arc de Triomf in Barcelona. The funds will be given to the National Risk Secretariat account, which manages all the earthquake response actions.

The office of the Vice-rector for Students and Cooperation and the Solidarity Autonomous Foundation wish to take this opportunity to denounce the vulnerability that affects many poor countries of the world. This vulnerability aggravates the serious consequences that a natural disaster may cause and the existing difficulties in the emergency phase and the posterior reconstruction of the damages.

They also encourage the university community to donate to the international cooperation entities and specialized organizations that have already mobilized their teams to engage in rescue tasks and the provision of immediate humanitarian aid, such as Médicins Sans Frontières, Oxfam Intermón, Red Crosso UNICEF, among others, or the #AquíMeTienesEcuador campaign.