A/HRC/36/4 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, held its twenty-seventh session from 1 to 12 May 2017. The review of Ecuador was held at the 2nd meeting, on 1 May 2017. The delegation of Ecuador was headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, Guillaume Long. At its 10th meeting, held on 5 May 2017, the Working Group adopted the report on Ecuador. 2. On 13 February 2017, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of Ecuador: Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Côte d’Ivoire and Republic of Korea. 3. In accordance with paragraph 15 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to Council resolution 16/21, the following documents were issued for the review of Ecuador: (a) A national report submitted/written presentation made in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/27/ECU/1); (b) A compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) (A/HRC/WG.6/27/ECU/2); (c) A summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/27/ECU/3). 4. A list of questions prepared in advance by Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America was transmitted to Ecuador through the troika. These questions are available on the extranet of the universal periodic review. I. Summary of the proceedings of the review process A. Presentation by the State under review 5. The delegation reaffirmed the profound commitment of Ecuador to human rights and highlighted the significant progress made since the previous universal periodic review and, more generally, during the decade of the Government of the Citizens’ Revolution. 6. Ecuador was a party to all existing international human rights conventions and treated all human rights as indivisible, interdependent and of equal importance. However, human rights could not be guaranteed in the presence of extreme poverty, inequality and anti-democratic asymmetries in the distribution of power. 7. The 2008 Constitution had introduced a new social contract and set the basis for the construction of a State of “good living” by rethinking the traditional concept of development. Within that framework, and despite many challenges, the Government was working to implement public policies aimed at protecting the human rights of the citizens of Ecuador. 8. Ecuador considered that poverty was a multidimensional phenomenon and that fighting it was crucial to guarantee human rights. Between 2009 and 2016, the multidimensional poverty rate in Ecuador had dropped from 27.2 per cent to 16.9 per cent as a result of increased access to employment, education, social security, water and housing. Ecuador was also a global leader in fighting inequality, having reduced the Gini coefficient by eight points despite the systematic rejection by the Ecuadorian elites of any tax reform aimed at ensuring the redistribution of wealth necessary to protect human rights. 9. The delegation noted the promulgation in 2014 of the Organic Act on National Equality Councils and referred to other important achievements, such as the criminalization 2