Freddy Ehlers Zurita (born 30 November 1945) is an

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

ian politician. He served as Ecuador's State Secretary for the Presidential Initiative for the Construction of a Society of Good Life from 2013 to 2017 during the

Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963) is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as the 45th president of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation until 2017, Corr ...

administration. Previously, he was

Minister of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) *Ministry of Touri ...

from 10 May 2010 until June 2013. In 1996 and 1998, Ehlers stood candidate for the office of

President of Ecuador The president of Ecuador (), officially called the constitutional president of the Republic of Ecuador (), serves as the head of state and head of government of Ecuador. It is the highest political office in the country as the head of the exec ...

. Between 1 February 2007 and 7 May 2010, Ehlers was the

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the

Andean Community of Nations The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

"Curriculum Vitae"
, Ministry of Tourism, Ecuador

Early life

Freddy Ehlers was born on 30 November 1945 in

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

. Ehlers has a degree in Jurisprudence from the

Universidad Central del Ecuador The Central University of Ecuador () is a national university located in Quito, Ecuador. It is the oldest and largest university in the country, and one of the oldest universities in the Americas. The enrollment at the university is over 10,000 ...

, and has studied

Television studies Television studies is an academic discipline that deals with critical approaches to television. Usually, it is distinguished from mass communication research, which tends to approach the topic from a social sciences perspective. Defining the field ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Ehlers was a Richardson Scholar (exchange student) at Davidson College in 1964-1965, where he started Project of the Americas, a multi-campus student exchange organization with Ecuador.

Professional life

Ehlers has been a journalist for thirty years in which he has produced over a thousand documentaries. In 1979 he started the series ''Let's talk about ourselves'', which was the first program to show the cultural and natural values of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. Between 1980 and 1988 he was director of the Program of Andean Television. In 1990 he began with the production of the series La Televisión, which emphasized environmental issues. It has been the most successful show by

audience measurement Audience measurement calculates how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic. The term is someti ...

in the journalism and opinion category in Ecuador between 1990 and 2006.

Political career

In the 1996 elections and

1998 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1998. Africa * 1998 Burkinabé presidential election * 1998 Central African parliamentary election * 1998 Gabonese presidential election * 1998 Guinean presidential election * 1998 Lesotho general elect ...

Ehlers was a candidate for the Ecuadorian presidency but both times did not win the election. On 20 October 2002, Ehlers was elected as a member of the

Andean Parliament The Andean Parliament is the governing and deliberative body of the Andean Community, conformed by representatives of its four member states Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and one associate member, Chile. It is composed of 25 parliamentari ...

for Ecuador with 20% of the votes as a representative of the Movimiento Cívico Nuevo País. During his term, which ended in 2006, he became vice president of the same parliament.Minister "Ministro"
Ministry of Tourism, Ecuador On 18 January 2007, Ehlers was chosen as

of the

for a five-year term. Ehlers succeeded the

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n Alfredo Fuentes Hernández, an interim Secretary-General. Ehlers formally started his function on 1 February 2007. His term of office was noted by his efforts to implement the mandate handed down to him by the

Tarija Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is the largest city and capital and municipality within the Tarija Department, with an airport ( Capitán Oriel Lea Plaza Airport, (TJA)) of ...

summit of 2007. On 20 April 2010, he submitted his resignation, which became effective on 7 May 2010. He resigned to return to Ecuadorian politics. On 10 May 2010, he was named Minister of Tourism by President

. On 19 June 2013, his term as Minister of Tourism ended and he was named State Secretary for the Presidential Initiative for the Construction of a Society of Good Life. In his new capacity he started the television series ''Acuerdo para el buen vivir'' on 15 October 2014. The program was meant to start a dialogue on how to reach a society of good life. Ehlers has also promoted the vision of his secretariat worldwide. In July 2015, opposition politicians sought to have Ehler's secretariat closed, with calling it "a symbol of obese bureaucracy". In April 2016, Ehlers stated that the budget and staff of his secretariat had decreased.

Decorations

Ehlers received the

Global 500 Roll of Honour The Global 500 Roll of Honour was an award given from 1987 to 2003 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognized the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world. A successor system of UNE ...

by the

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

in 1993 for his work in raising awareness amongst Ecuadorians for the environment.Freddy Ehlers
Global 500 Environmental Forum

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ehlers, Freddy 1945 births Living people Central University of Ecuador alumni Ecuadorian journalists Ecuadorian male journalists Ecuadorian television presenters Government ministers of Ecuador Politicians from Quito Andean Community people