Ecuador launches digital platform to strengthen preparations for El Niño

Ecuador has launched a digital tool designed to show where emergency resources are available and which areas face the greatest exposure to the potential effects of El Niño.

The National Secretariat for Risk Management presented Alístate Ecuador, a platform housed within the Alertas Ecuador portal. The government calls it a “visualizer.” It displays the secretariat’s preparedness and response capacity across the country, including temporary shelters, Civil Protection volunteers, community committees, warehouses and pre-positioned humanitarian aid kits.

The platform also includes historical data on adverse events linked to El Niño between 2010 and 2026. Users can view sectors identified as highly exposed in action plans submitted by local governments. The secretariat said the information should help authorities, institutions, communities and citizens anticipate measures, strengthen preparedness and reduce the effects of emergencies and disasters.

The government declared a nationwide red alert the previous Saturday. The measure activated provincial and municipal Emergency Operations Committees and ordered the implementation of procedures and plans for preventive evacuations, emergency response, resource mobilization and population protection in potentially affected areas.

Carolina Lozano, head of the risk management secretariat, estimates that about 1.3 million people could face El Niño’s effects in 17 provinces that had already been under an orange alert. The government has allocated $650 million across different ministries, she said, with 70% assigned to prevention and the remaining 30% to response measures.