Under the responsibility of the Consejo Nacional de Competencias (National Council of Competences) and the technical support of the National Secretariat for Planning and Development, the government of the Republic of Ecuador has published, the new Plan Nacional de Descentralización 2012-2015.
Since 2009, the persistent territorial development imbalance in Ecuador led the provinces, cantons, parishes and social and civic movements to initiate a fight against the systemic centralisation. Under this principle was formulated the Organic Code for Territorial Organisation, Autonomy and Decentralisation, which envisaged the creation of the National Council of Competences comprising representatives from all government levels. The Decentralisation plan describes the decentralisation process for the next 4 years and it will be the main instrument for the implementation of the decentralisation in the country. This plan is the first initiative organised, planned and integrated by all government levels regarding the process of decentralization in the Republic of Ecuador.