Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados - JRS Ecuador

What Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados - JRS Ecuador does

Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados - JRS Ecuador is the Ecuadorian national office of the international Jesuit Refugee Service, a non-profit Catholic humanitarian organization affiliated with the Society of Jesus. Operating with 23 employees from a Quito headquarters and six territorial offices in Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, Huaquillas, Lago Agrio, and Tulcán, it accompanies, serves, and defends forced migrants, refugees (predominantly Venezuelan and Colombian populations), women victims of violence, and youth in mobility contexts across Ecuador's principal border corridors and urban centers. Its core programs include direct legal, psychosocial, and social accompaniment; the "Escuela de Ciudadanía" (Citizenship School) with adult and youth tracks; a livelihoods and entrepreneurship program; "Mujeres en Refugio, Impulsadoras de Paz" for women's empowerment and gender-based violence prevention; "Juventud Construyendo Paz" using photography, video, and podcast methodologies; and human rights advocacy.

The organization delivers services through a community-led, field-based model relying on social workers, psychologists, legal advisors, and community facilitators, with no proprietary technology platform beyond a WordPress site and social media channels. It is funded by institutional donors, the international Jesuit network, and partnerships with entities such as UNHCR-aligned bodies, ADRA, PUCE, Red CLAMOR, HIAS, and Asylum Access, and has earned formal recognition including the Ecuadorian National Assembly's "Vicente Rocafuerte" Condecoración. Its go-to-market is direct service delivery to beneficiaries through territorial offices, supplemented by awareness campaigns such as "Juntemos manos hoy" and "Migrar hacia la esperanza." Revenue mechanics are entirely grant-based with no commercial pricing; recent operational moves include a Gessell Chamber installation in Machala and food kit distribution programs in Guayaquil and Huaquillas, indicating incremental service line and geographic expansion through 2024-2025.

Name

Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados - JRS Ecuador

Legal name

Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados - Ecuador

Website

https://serviciojesuitarefugiadosecuador.wordpress.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

JRS Ecuador is a Quito-based Jesuit humanitarian non-profit with 23 staff across six territorial offices that accompanies, serves, and defends forced migrants, refugees, and women victims of violence in Ecuador through legal, psychosocial, education, livelihoods, and human rights programs funded by institutional donors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Aid and Refugee Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Human Rights Organizations (813311), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Refugee & Immigrant Support Services (BPAGAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Refugee, IDP & Migration Humanitarian Assistance (BPAGAAAH), Migrant & Refugee Legal Aid and Documentation Services (BPADAHAE), Asylum & Refugee Status Determination (RSD) Support (BPADAHAB), Diaspora, Family Reunification & Case Management Services (BPADAHAM)

Keywords

• Humanitarian aid services
• Refugee protection programs
• Migration accompaniment
• Human rights advocacy
• Psychosocial support services

Headquarters

HQ city

Quito

HQ country

Ecuador

HQ region

Latin America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Funding and Donations: JRS Ecuador operates as a non-profit humanitarian organization funded through institutional donors, international Jesuit networks, and partnerships. The organization implements projects funded by various international cooperation entities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

JRS Ecuador accompanies, serves, and defends people in situations of forced migration and those seeking international protection in Ecuador. It delivers direct psychosocial, legal, and social support to migrants and refugees; runs the Escuela de Ciudadanía citizenship training program; provides livelihoods and entrepreneurship assistance; implements women's protection and peacebuilding initiatives; and engages in human rights advocacy. All services are delivered free of charge to beneficiaries through six territorial offices and in coordination with the international JRS network and Jesuit partners.

Product overview

JRS Ecuador is a humanitarian organization that provides a comprehensive suite of services for people in forced migration situations and those seeking international protection. The core programs include direct accompaniment and social/psychological/legal support, the Escuela de Ciudadanía (citizenship training with adult and youth tracks), youth empowerment through media production, women's protection and peacebuilding initiatives, livelihood support for entrepreneurs, and human rights advocacy. These programs operate through territorial offices across Ecuador (Quito, Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, Huaquillas, Lago Agrio, Tulcán) and collaborate with the Jesuit network and partner organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Escuela de Ciudadanía (Citizenship School) Annual citizenship and human rights training program for migrants, refugees, and host community members, offered in adult and youth versions with participatory methodologies covering human rights, mobility, peace culture, and life planning. Aimed at forced migrants, refugees, and host communities across multiple Ecuadorian provinces, with approximately 60 participants per cycle.
• Acompañamiento y Servicio a Migrantes (Accompaniment and Service for Migrants) Direct social, psychological, and legal accompaniment for people in forced migration situations and those seeking international protection in Ecuador, including assistance with asylum applications, humanitarian visa processes, and documentation regularization. Targeted at forced migrants and refugees in Ecuador.
• Programa de Medios de Vida (Livelihoods Program) Livelihood and economic empowerment program supporting migrant and refugee entrepreneurs through training, technical assistance, and linkages to educational institutions for business development. Targeted at migrant and refugee entrepreneurs in Ecuador, including technical roles such as the Huaquillas-based 'Técnico/a Medios de Vida'.
• Programa de Mujeres en Refugio, Impulsadoras de Paz (Women in Refuge, Drivers of Peace) Program supporting women refugees and migrants through protection routes, empowerment, and leadership development with emphasis on peacebuilding and prevention of gender-based violence. Targeted at migrant and refugee women at risk of or survivors of gender-based violence.
• Juventud Construyendo Paz (Youth Building Peace) Youth empowerment initiative using photography, video, and podcast creation to enable young migrants and host community members to document issues and build peace agendas in their territories. Targeted at young people aged 18-31 from migrant and host communities.
• Defensa de Derechos Humanos (Human Rights Defense) Human rights advocacy and defense services for migrants and refugees, including accompaniment during asylum processes, legal advice, and support in accessing public services. Targeted at migrants and refugees in Ecuador requiring legal protection.

Quantifiable outcome

• Multiple recognitions from government institutions including the National Assembly 'Vicente Rocafuerte' Condecoración
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fe y AlegríacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 September 2020Collaboration between Jesuit works in Ecuador; JRS delivered Zoom plan for 500 students and 11 tablets for Venezuelan families to the Eduardo Vásquez Dodero school in Quito's Solanda district
• Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple collaborations including PUCE Solidaria network, student internships, research partnerships, certification for Citizenship School programs, and design workshops for refugee entrepreneurs
• Red CLAMOR (Ecclesiastical Network)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcclesiastical network including JRS, Misión Scalabriniana, Pastoral Social Cáritas, and Conferencia Ecuatoriana de Religiosos working on migration issues; organized dialogue with Nunciature and Episcopal Conference
• Hogar de CristocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJRS Guayaquil office operates from Hogar de Cristo shelter 'Un techo para el camino'; part of Jesuit social works network
• Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos de GuayaquilminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance for documenting stories and experiences of migrant women during COVID-19 crisis
• Centro Experimental Oído SalvajeminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAudiovisual production partnership for the 2021 'Migrar hacia la esperanza' campaign with videos and audio content
• Manthra ComunicaciónminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCreative agency partnership for 2020 'Juntemos manos hoy' campaign on coexistence and dialogue
• CEAFAX (Centro de comunicación de la Compañía de Jesús)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJesuit communication center that produced video content about Citizenship School programs with Salesian University students
• Asylum AccessminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration in accompaniment of Colombian conflict victims and Mesa Local de Víctimas process in Lago Agrio
• HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration in accompaniment of Colombian conflict victims in border regions
• Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Colombia)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVisit from Observatory of Youth for Citizenship School closing activities and exchange of methodologies
• Salesians of Don BoscominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJRS facilitated mobility human training sessions for Salesian pastoral workers at Centro Salesiano de Formación Permanente América

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ecuador: IOM operates large-scale migration programs in Ecuador (border management, regularization, Venezuelan response) and overlaps with JRS in serving forced migrants, but as a broad UN agency incumbent rather than a Jesuit-affiliated specialist.
• Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Ecuador: NRC is a large INGO providing legal aid, shelter, and education to refugees in Ecuador and Latin America, competing for the same institutional donor pool and serving overlapping populations.
• UNHCR Ecuador: UNHCR is the UN Refugee Agency and a likely institutional funder and convener in Ecuador, with much broader mandate and funding scale than JRS but overlapping strongly in refugee status determination and protection.
• Jesuit Refugee Service International: JRS International is the parent network and operates in 50+ countries with significantly larger programmatic capacity; it sets JRS Ecuador's mission framework and funnels global Jesuit funding.

Direct peers

• Misión Scalabriniana Ecuador: Catholic Scalabrinian missionaries are part of Red CLAMOR alongside JRS and serve Venezuelan and Colombian migrants in Ecuador with shelter, legal aid, and pastoral accompaniment, making them a close faith-based direct peer.
• Pastoral Social Cáritas Ecuador: Cáritas Ecuador is a fellow Red CLAMOR member providing humanitarian assistance, migration support, and community services through parish networks nationwide, directly overlapping JRS Ecuador's mission and beneficiary base.
• Asylum Access Ecuador: Asylum Access collaborates with JRS Ecuador in Lago Agrio on the Mesa Local de Víctimas process and provides legal aid and rights defense for refugees, making it a directly comparable legal accompaniment peer.
• HIAS Ecuador: HIAS is a major international refugee assistance organization that works directly with JRS Ecuador on accompaniment of Colombian conflict victims in border regions. It offers comparable legal, psychosocial, and integration services to forced migrants in Ecuador.
• ADRA Ecuador: ADRA runs the Casa de Alojamiento Temporal in Huaquillas where JRS operates and has formally recognized JRS contributions. ADRA delivers comparable shelter, food kits, and humanitarian assistance to migrants in border zones.

Emerging players

• RET International: RET provides protection and education services for refugees and migrants in Ecuador, particularly youth and adolescents, partially overlapping with JRS's Juventud Construyendo Paz and Escuela de Ciudadanía programs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sjrec
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6RaiQsf8pBNei82X7f8ujQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/ECSJR
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/servicio-jesuita-a-refugiados---jrs-ecuador

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados - JRS Ecuador