The Republic of Suriname and the UNASDG Intergovernmental Organization were signing an official Treaty, to collaborate from now on, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals jointly.
At 3:00 p.m. local time, the official representatives of the Republic of Suriname and the intergovernmental organization UNASDG met by videoconference to sign the treaty for the joint implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations.
The Executive President of UNASDG, Senator Patrick Meyer, and the Minister of Public Works His Excellency Hon. Riad Jozef Nurmohamed had an extensive exchange on the needs and objectives of the Republic of Suriname, as well as the possibilities of support from UNASDG, and decided to work together in the future.
UNASDG Vice President Senator Hans Pflanz expressed how important it is to involve all stakeholders in the processes and to establish and develop a stable partnership, as this is the key to successfully achieving the goals.
The collaboration was made possible with the kind support of our Ambassador for the Caribbean Region, Hon. Rory Forde, as well as by our associated partners Avantu Water, headquartered in Canada, which since its foundation in 2020 has been working globally, and especially in Suriname, in all relevant areas with sustainable solutions for the treatment of water of all kinds.
Minister Nurmohamed has communicated that Suriname takes the achievement of the goals very seriously and the Republic has a great interest in the achievement of the goals. He said he would immediately inform all ministries about the cooperation with UNASDG in order to achieve visible successes hand in hand as soon as possible. For now, the most important SDG areas for Suriname are climate change mitigation, infrastructure and housing projects, waste disposal/ and conversion projects, energy production and, most importantly, water treatment.
A specific project agenda as well as the necessary steps for a secured and sustainable financing process with the affiliated UNASDG Investment Facility will be jointly developed by the two parties shortly in order to get started quickly.
UNASDG has proposed to include Suriname directly in the planned SDG Cities Flagship Program on Cities Certification, which was initiated in cooperation between UNASDG, UNGSII and UN Habitat and will be launched in the short term.
Initially, 4 selected cities will be included in the review and certification process. After successful certification, an initial pilot project is to be set up in each of the cities in order to optimize the interfaces and achieve the first visible results.
Special thanks also go to Ms. Manuella Fung and Ms. Saskia Chote, who helped us a lot in the implementation and recognition of the UNASDG by the Republic of Suriname.
A copy of the Treaty will be issued to the UN General Secretary Hon. Antonio Guterrez, to deposit it at the United Nations Treaty Collection.
The entire team of UNASDG is glad to have found a trustworthy partner in Suriname and to be able to tackle the goals together from now on.
Welcome to UNASDG.
Yours sincerely,
Pat Meyer, President.
More information: OW en UNASDG tekenen samenwerkingsovereenkomst (gov.sr)