Suriname

From HFA-PEDIA

1 HFA National Reports
2 National platform:
3 HFA National Focal Point
4 Other contacts:
5 Country profile
- 5.1 Urban indicators
6 Progress
7 Other Areas:
8 Other Documents
9 Web Links:

HFA National Reports

Preliminary national HFA progress report 2009-2011 (2010): Unreported

National HFA Progress Report 2007-2009 (2008): Unreported

National Report 2007: Unreported

National Report 2006: Unreported

National Report 2005: Unreported

National Report 2004: Unreported

National Report 2003: Unreported

National platform:

Unreported

HFA National Focal Point

National Coordination Center For Disaster Relief (NCCR)

Address: Ministry of Defense, Kwattaweg #29, Paramaribo, Suriname

Tel: (597) 52 0840, 42 6416 / Fax: (597) 47 4320

Contact person:

Lieutenant-Colonel Jerry Slijngard, Coordinator

E-mail: jerryslijngard@gmail.com

Other contacts:

Country profile

Name: Conventional long form: Republic of Suriname. conventional short form: Suriname. local long form: Republiek Suriname. local short form: Suriname.Former: Netherlands Guiana, Dutch Guiana.

Capital: Basseterre

Independence Day: 25 November 1975 (from the Netherlands).

Population: 470,784 (July 2007 est.)

Area: 163,270 sq km

Religions: Hindu 27.4%, Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian), Roman Catholic 22.8%, Muslim 19.6%, indigenous beliefs 5%.

Language: Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese.

Ethnics Group: Hindustani (also known locally as "East Indians"; their ancestors emigrated from northern India in the latter part of the 19th century) 37%, Creole (mixed white and black) 31%, Javanese 15%, "Maroons" (their African ancestors were brought to the country in the 17th and 18th centuries as slaves and escaped to the interior) 10%, Amerindian 2%, Chinese 2%, white 1%, other 2%.

Government: Constitutional Democracy

Currency: Surinam dollar (SRD)

Climate: Tropical; moderated by trade winds

Suriname has two basic seasons: the dry season and the wet or rainy season. A short wet season lasts from the beginning of December to the end of February. This is followed by a short dry period up to the end of April, a long rainy period up to mid-August, and a long dry season up to the end of November. There is higher rainfall in certain parts of the Interior, particularly in the mountains. Transitions in the seasons showed that major changes have taken place in the country’s seasons and rainfall patterns.

First explored by the Spaniards in the 16th century and then settled by the English in the mid-17th century, Suriname became a Dutch colony in 1667. With the abolition of slavery in 1863, workers were brought in from India and Java. Independence from the Netherlands was granted in 1975. Five years later the civilian government was replaced by a military regime that soon declared a socialist republic. It continued to exert control through a succession of nominally civilian administrations until 1987, when international pressure finally forced a democratic election. In 1990, the military overthrew the civilian leadership, but a democratically elected government - a four-party New Front coalition - returned to power in 1991 and has ruled since, expanding to eight parties in 2005.

Urban indicators

Indicator	2030
Total population (thousands)	480.7
Population in urban (thousands)	394.2
Population in slums (thousands)	N/A
Population in urban areas (% of total population)	82
Population in slums (% of urban population)	N/A
Annual urban population growth rate (%)	N/A
Annual slum population growth rate (%)	N/A
Population with access to improved sanitation (% of urban population)	N/A
Population with access to improved water (% of urban population)	N/A
Population with sufficient living area (% of urban population)	N/A
Population with durable structures (% of urban population)	N/A
Population in rural (thousands)	86.5

Source: UN-Habitat - The data presented here is extracted from UN-HABITAT's Global Urban Indicators database.

The data is drawn from different sources and based on 2030 estimates.

Progress

HFA P1 - Institutional and legal framework

HFA P2 - Risk identification and EWS:

HFA P3 - Knowledge and education:

HFA P4 - Risk applications:

HFA P5 - Preparedness and response:

Other Areas:

Other Documents

Enhancing Gender Visibility in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change in the Caribbean. Case Study: Agriculture and housing in Suriname; UNDP, 2009 - Prepared for the UNDP by Sheila Ketwaru-Nurmohamed

Case Study on the Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture and Housing on Indigenous Communities in Suriname

This case study focuses on gender, climate change and disaster risk reduction. It examines the impact of climate change on agriculture and housing in two tribal communities in Suriname: one Maroon (descendants of escaped slaves) and one indigenous. The aim is to increase awareness of the differential impact of the 2006 floods on men and on women in the selected communities and specifically to assess how agriculture and housing were affected. The case studies were undertaken in June 2008, and assess differential impacts on men and women in both villages.

Remarks by the Head of the Suriname Delegation, Ms. Gloria M. de MEES LLM

High Level Conference on Disaster Reduction; November 16, 2007, Saint Marc, Haiti

Country in the Spotlight: Some Lessons from Post-Disaster Response - Suriname; UNDP, 2007

Suriname experienced disastrous flooding in various interior areas in May 2006, affecting approximately 22,000 persons from indigenous (Amerindian) and tribal African descendants (Maroons) in scattered villages in the rainforest and displacing hundreds of families. Although the floods were not a huge humanitarian tragedy per se, the impact on development in these already marginalized communities is substantive in terms of food security, housing and economic self-sufficiency.