PARAMARIBO–More than one hundred people joint the United Nations to celebrate its international day on October 24th, UN Suriname reports in its newsletter. The office presented the cinema premiere of the documentary A Workshop for Peace at TBL cinemas. Attendees left their signatures at a board posted at the event in solidarity with the work of the global organization.

A Workshop for Peace shows the story of how the world’s greatest architects representing many of the original member nations came together and created an architectural symbol for global Peace.

The story of designing and constructing the UN headquarters is also the thread that guides the spectator through part of the history of the UN. The film was commissioned by the United Nations for the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the International Organization.   The UN Day commemorates the anniversary of coming into force the Charter of the United Nations. The United Nations Charter is the constituting instrument of the Organization, and sets out the rights and obligations of Member States, and establishing the United Nations organs and procedures.

An international treaty, the Charter codifies the major principles of international relations, from sovereign equality of States to the prohibition of the use of force in international relations.

PARAMARIBO–The UN in Suriname is presenting the cinema documentary “A Workshop for Peace” on Monday 24 of October at 7.00PM at TBL Cinemas. The cinema premiere marks International Day, devoted to make the people of the world know the aims and the achievements of the UN and to gain their support for its work.  

The admission to the premiere will be free and the UN welcomes all the people interested in knowing a little more about this unique organization. A Workshop for Peace shows the story of how the world’s greatest architects representing many of the original member nations came together and created an architectural symbol for global Peace.

The story of designing and constructing the UN headquarters is also the thread that guides the spectator through part of the history of the UN. The film was commissioned by the United Nations for the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the International Organization.   The UN Day commemorates the anniversary of coming into force the Charter of the United Nations. The United Nations Charter is the constituting instrument of the Organization, and sets out the rights and obligations of Member States, and establishing the United Nations organs and procedures.

An international treaty, the Charter codifies the major principles of international relations, from sovereign equality of States to the prohibition of the use of force in international relations.

PARAMARIBO– Suriname has agreed to address several national human rights matters raised by the United Nations Human Rights Council. During its four-yearly Universal Periodic Review, a United Nations process in which it seeks to report on the state of human rights in the 192 Member States every, the council made several recommendations. A press release from the UN says that Justice and Police Minister Martin Misiedjan has since reported that Suriname has accepted strengthening the participation of women, combating the trafficking of minors, combating poverty and ensuring economic, social and cultural rights for vulnerable groups as well as setting up a national human rights institution in accordance with international standards. The Council has appealed to the international community to provide constructive assistance to help Suriname achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Minister Misiedjan, the release stated, is responsible for addressing the Council. It said Misiedjan reported that the Universal Periodic Review which took place in Switzerland last May, had prompted an in-depth analysis of the national human rights situation in the country and that a significant number of the recommendations were accepted as they provided a sound foundation for the implementation of policies aimed at providing a more effective protection and enjoyment of human rights.

In terms of health, much work had been done in Suriname to reduce the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child and in the fight against malaria. Speakers present at the Council said that the international community should provide constructive assistance to help Suriname achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Among the recommendations accepted to promote the human rights in Suriname by the Government, there is the agreement to conclude the ratification process of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Also, the Government will consider starting the ratification process of the two Optional Protocols of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

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NEW YORK–President Desi Bouterse has said that the global community should engage in meaningful partnerships and joint endeavors to address the impacts of non-communicable diseases. He cautioned at a UN meeting that started in New York on Monday, that the impending political declaration on NCD’s falls short of the expectations of the Caribbean Community. The President said that while the Caricom states see “significant stimulus to prevent and control NCD’s” the declaration does not elaborate on a clear goal and roadmap for the global campaign. “There is a lack of strong commitment on targets, resources and a global collaborative NCD mechanism,” Bouterse said.

Bouterse  travelled to New York on Sunday, to address the 66th General Session of the United Nations in New York, where he shared the views of the 15-member bloc of which Suriname has been a member since 1995.  Non-communicable diseases –heart and vein ailments, cancer, diabetes and chronic long illnesses- are the leading cause of death thorughout the world; upon his departure, Bouterse’s Cabinet had said that NCD’s are rampant in Suriname and in other Caribbean countries and that they would be tabled at the UN session.

Addressing the high level meeting on Monday, the President said that Caricom considered it “a source of pride, gratitude and accomplishment” that the UN convened a Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non Communicable Diseases. “Four  years  ago, in Port of Spain, Heads of State and Government of CARICOM expressed alarm at the impact of NCDs on our societies. Our deep concern stimulated urgent efforts within CARICOM member states, as well as initiatives at the international  level, to enlist greater attention to address NCDs,” he said.

UN member states are expected to sign the declaration at the end of the meeting; according to Bouterse the document “makes vivid the gravity of the impact of the NCD epidemic, particularly on development, stresses the primacy of prevention and the importance of multi‐sectoral approaches, emphasizes the cost effectiveness of responses and the desirability of an effective partnership involving all stakeholders and commits to the implementation of a range of actions to combat NCDs and their risk factors, including through specific follow-up initiatives.”

While he noted some shortcomings, Bouterse said the declaration, if scrupulously implemented, could contribute in meaningful ways to achieving the internationally agreed development goals. “We see a significant stimulus to prevent and control NCDs  through the reorientation and strengthening of national health systems, universal access to available medicines, and the technology for preventing and treating these diseases,” he said.

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PARAMARIBO—The United Nations (UN) is allocating less development funds for Suriname for the next five years. The success of development project means less aid.

Regional Representative Marcia de Castro says that the UN no longer classifies Suriname as a low income country. “And I learned from Foreign Minister Winston Lackin that Suriname is now also looking to the InterAmerican Development Bank, China, Brazil, France and the European Union,” she says.

The UN, she adds, will focus on institutional strengthening and technical assistance. Whereas Suriname received US$ 25 million in aid from the global organization for education, health and modernizing Government institutions in 2005, the country will receive “a smaller envelope” when the negotiations ongoing now fold. “I cannot say how much, but it will be less,” says De Castro.

PARAMARIBO/NEW YORK–Suriname is “among the few countries in the Caribbean where the incidence of HIV infection has decreased by more than 25 percent,” Health Minister Celsius Waterberg has reported. Suriname has also achieved a 10% drop of HIV/AIDS related deaths.

“The strides forward are due to a national multi-sectoral HIV Council, setting up structures to provide leadership in quality of services and training in revised treatment protocols,” Waterberg said on Thursday June 9th in New York, at the UN High Level Meeting on AIDS.

The Minister said that Suriname has introduced combined prevention tools and implemented pilot projects successful in mobilizing men for circumcision as an additional preventive measure. He said though that the country is still battling quite some challenges. He called on the international community and in particular donors, to continue lending support to programs of developing countries, aimed at battling the pandemic.

Waterberg was among scores of speakers on the second day of the Meeting that brought together 3,000 participants -including 30 heads of State and government- who reported progress but still called for increased efforts with greater cooperation among nations. Gratitude was expressed for past help, but there calls for more aid to continue the battle, were loud and clear.

The high level meeting has meanwhile adopted a “Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS: Intensifying our Efforts to Eliminate HIV/AIDS”. The resolution aims at charting a path for the future of the response against the disease that has claimed more than 30 million lives since the virus was first identified three decades ago. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has meanwhile welcomed the adoption of the ambitious new targets that aim to rid the world of the epidemic.

PARAMARIBO/NEW YORK–Suriname on May 28th signed a joint protocol with Georgia, on the establishment of diplomatic and consular relations. According to the protocol, the relations between the two states will be guided by the principles of national sovereignty, respect of territorial integrity and inviolability of frontiers of sovereign states.

The protocol was signed by Permanent Representative of the Republic of Suriname to the UN Mr. Henry Leonard MacDonald and by Alexander Lomaia, Permanent Representative of Georgia to the UN. The protocol signing ceremony was held in New York, at Georgia’s Permanent Mission to the UN.

According to the established practice, the sides have since notified H. E. Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General, by a joint letter.

In 2011 Georgia has established diplomatic relations with 12 countries, particularly with Antigua and Barbuda, the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of the Congo, the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Republic of Honduras, Republic of Mauritius, Republic of Rwanda, Republic of Somalia, Solomon Islands, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Tuvalu.

Georgia has established diplomatic relations with 157 out of 191 Member States of the United Nations.

PARAMARIBO–A workshop hosted on Friday May 20th by the UN Children’s Fund, the UN Women and the International Development Research Centre will shed some light on the taboo issues of marital and extra-marital sex, and the risks of HIV/AIDS infection.

The workshop, which will be held in the conference center of Residence Inn resort, follows research done by the University of the West Indies HIV/AIDS Response Programme in Trinidad, the Centre for Gender and Development Studies in Barbados, York University in Canada and Ultimate Purpose ing Suriname.  Part of the results of the research – which was themed “Building Responsive Policy: Gender, Sexual Culture and HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean”- was already presented in June 2009. A press release from the UN office in Paramaribo stated that at Friday’s consultation/workshop, results from the case study about marriage will be presented, in hopes of getting feedback on policy recommendations.

The research project, the release explained, aimed at getting more insights in the sexual culture of Barbados, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago. “The objective was to get answers to the many questions regarding prevention and minimizing HIV/AIDS, which would help approach current situations better,” the release said.

The workshop opens at 8.30am and closes at 3.00pm. Health Minister Celsius Waterberg will deliver the opening address.

PARAMARIBO– Suriname’s authorities need to engage in further dialogue with the country’s indigenous and tribal peoples to advance those groups’ land and resource rights, a United Nations human rights expert has said.  James Anaya, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, wrapped up a four-day visit this week to Suriname, where he met with indigenous and tribal groups, senior Government officials and UN staff.

Mr. Anaya  who was making the first-ever visit to Suriname by an independent expert designated by the UN Human Rights Council – described the trip as “fruitful and constituted a unique and valuable opportunity for dialogue and consultation.” He pledged to work with the Government and the indigenous and tribal groups to help them with their dialogue on land and resource rights.