UN JP LNOB holds information session with Ministry of Regional Development and Sports, and other Programme stakeholders

Key sessions in the meeting included welcome remarks by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Regional Development and Sports Mr. Maverick. Boejoekoe; the UN JPLNOB overview which was presented by the UNDP Programme Officer for Social Development and SDG Integration Mr. Ruben Martoredjo, presentations of the various national policies including the Regional Development policy, the policy on the sustainable development of Indigenous peoples, the policy on the sustainable development of Surinamese of Afro descent, the policy on Agricultural Development in the Interior and the policy relating to other tribal peoples. During the information session, representatives of government departments shared their success stories of similar interventions and raised salient issues for the successful implementation of the UN JPLNOB.



Some of the key success stories shared include the UNDP sponsored Cloth mask-making project for Indigenous and Tribal women whose skills were later used to make uniforms for indigenous school children after COVID-19 had been controlled, the introduction of a new highlight rice project among indigenous communities of West Suriname to supplement cassava that was originally grown, among other projects. Session participants therefore called for interventions that can be adapted to alternative use or replicated in other communities to expand their reach and associated benefits beyond the JP LNOB target communities.

The representative of the Medical Mission, Mr. Melvin Uiterloo called for process chains to add value to produce. “We must create full value chains that include processing materials to final products to create more skills and employment at each level”, he said.

Participants also noted some challenges by their departments including insufficient funding to sustain their activities and the lack of coordination between national Ministry of Agriculture and the Department of Sustainable Agricultural Production of the Interior.

They also noted a growing gender gap where men are beginning to be left behind with the rise of the status of women. “Proposed interventions should, therefore, promote gender equality so that no one is left behind”, said Mr. Boejoekoe, a session participant and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Regional Development and Sports. Other participants who attended the information session included the UNICEF M&E Officer and JP LNOB focal point Ms. Prya Hirasingh, the team from the Programme Management Unit including the Deputy Programme Manager, Mrs. Simone Sakia, the Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Ms. Simone Boldewijn, the Communications Specialist Ms. Chanique Bipat, the Communications Officer Ms. Tinsia Plein, among others.