Annual Review of UN’s Work in Suriname Highlights Progress towards SDGs

Paramaribo July 19, 2023 - The United Nations (UN) together with the Government of Suriname held its Annual Review of the Country Implementation Plan (CIP) on Wednesday morning at the Royal Ballroom of Torarica in Paramaribo, Suriname.  The meeting brought together key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Business, and International Cooperation (BIBIS), the Planning Bureau Suriname, the General Bureau for Statistics Suriname, United Nations country team of agencies, funds and programmes working in Suriname, and their sectoral partners from Government ministries.

The Country Implementation Plan for 2022-2023 is anchored in the Multi-Country Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for the Dutch- and English-speaking Caribbean 2022 – 2026 and national Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets.

During the meeting, the UN Annual Report for 2022 was presented and both UN and Government participants reflected on achievements and lessons learned along the way.

During her opening remarks Ms. Joanna Kazana, Resident Coordinator of the UN for Suriname, indicated that 2022 underlined that the UN system was able to mobilise more than 10 million US dollars in resources on a very diverse portfolio. The UN country team was able to attract every available resource that was accessible and for which Suriname was eligible. 

Ms. Kazana also recognised the installation of the National SDG Commission and the SDG platform, which represent very important instruments for the cross sectoral coordination between the government institutions, and coordination with and between non-governmental organisations.

Ms. Lilian Menke, Deputy Director Macro Sector Planning of the Planning Bureau, during her remarks underlined that the Country Implementation Plan can only be successfully implemented through joint efforts from all stakeholders. She also showed appreciation to the UN system in Suriname for the longstanding partnership which is based on mutual respect and understanding.

Finally, with the midway point of Agenda 2030 fast approaching, the meeting also took a proactive and forward-looking view at future development activities in the areas of Climate Financing, Gender, Water Resources Management, Education, Agriculture, Health and Migration, ensuring close alignment to Suriname’s National Development Plan.

For more, please visit suriname.un.org