Gender Equality, Gender Relations and the Position of Women in Suriname A Situation Analysis Final report submitted to the National Bureau Gender Policy Paramaribo February 2011 Marieke Heemskerk & Ine Apapoe 0 Table of contents Table of contents ........................................................................................................ 1 List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................. 8 Summary .................................................................................................................. 15 1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 21 2. Background .................................................................................................... 23 2.1 Suriname ................................................................................................................... 23 2.2 Gender ...................................................................................................................... 24 2.3 The Suriname government and gender .................................................................... 25 2.4 The National Bureau for Gender Policy .................................................................... 25 2.5 Involvement of boys and men in gender equality .................................................... 26 2.6 Gender equality and boys and men in Suriname ..................................................... 27 3. Methods ......................................................................................................... 28 3.1 The assignment ......................................................................................................... 28 3.2 The research team .................................................................................................... 28 3.3. Data collection and reporting ................................................................................... 28 3.4 Assumptions ............................................................................................................. 29 3.5 Challenges and limitations ........................................................................................ 29 4 Power & Decision-making ............................................................................ 31 4.1 Political Administrative Representation ................................................................... 31 4.2 Women in Political Administrative Bodies ............................................................... 32 4.2.1 Increasing the number of women in political administrative bodies .................. 32 4.2.2 Women representatives in the National Assembly ............................................. 33 4.3 Women in Government ............................................................................................ 35 4.4 Women in Government Service ............................................................................... 36 4.4.1 Civil Servants ........................................................................................................ 36 4.4.2 District government ............................................................................................. 36 4.4.3 Highest Authorities of State ................................................................................ 37 4.4.4 The Court of Justice ............................................................................................. 38 4.4.4 International representation .............................................................................. 38 1 4.5 Leadership & Decision Making ................................................................................. 40 4.6 Constraining factors .................................................................................................. 41 5 Education ....................................................................................................... 44 5.1 Education general ..................................................................................................... 44 5.1.1. Education For All ................................................................................................ 44 5.1.2. The Suriname Educational System ...................................................................... 45 5.1.3. Government expenditures on education ............................................................ 46 5.2. Literacy and educational achievement ..................................................................... 47 5.2.1 Literacy ................................................................................................................. 47 5.2.2 Educational levels ................................................................................................ 48 5.2.3 Adult education.................................................................................................... 48 5.3. Early Child Development .......................................................................................... 50 5.4. Girls and Boys in Primary School .............................................................................. 53 5.5 Repeating and drop-out ........................................................................................... 57 5.6 The Boys Problem ..................................................................................................... 59 5.6.1. Secondary Education Junior level (VOJ) .................................................................. 59 5.6.2. Continued Education at a Senior Level (VOS) ........................................................ 60 5.7 Education on the interior .......................................................................................... 64 5.8. Study facilities ........................................................................................................... 65 5.8.1. Pupil Teacher ratio ............................................................................................... 65 5.8.2. Gender in het curriculum ........................................................................................ 67 5.8.3. Study allowances ................................................................................................... 69 5.9. Government educational policy and gender ............................................................ 72 6. Institutional mechanisms for the improvement of the position of women .... 74 6.1 Government policy with regard to gender ............................................................... 74 6.1.1 Ministry of Domestic Affairs ................................................................................ 75 6.1.2 National Bureau Gender policy (NBG) ................................................................. 75 6.1.3 Integral Gender Action Plan (IGAP) ...................................................................... 75 6.1.4 Commission Gender Regulation (CG) .................................................................. 77 6.1.5 Institutional strengthening NBG ........................................................................... 78 6.1.6 Gender Focal Points (GFPs) .................................................................................. 79 2 6.1.7 EC/UN Partnership on Gender Equality for Development and Peace ................. 80 6.1.8 Gender Database System (GDS) ........................................................................... 81 6.2 NGO’s ........................................................................................................................ 81 6.2.1 Foundation Man Mit man .................................................................................... 81 6.2.2 Women Rights Centre, training. .......................................................................... 82 6.2.3 Platform of NGOs for Women, Gender and Development .................................. 82 6.2.4 Women Parliament Forum (Vrouwen Parlement Forum) ................................... 82 6.3 Institute for Women, gender and Development Studies (IWGDS) ........................... 82 6.4 Instruments for the improvement of the position of women .................................. 83 6.4.1 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) ........................................................................................................................ 84 6.4.2 The Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (Treaty of “Belem do Para”) ............................................. 85 6.4.3 Other treaties ....................................................................................................... 86 6.5 Developments concerning gender ............................................................................ 87 6.6 Collecting gender segregated data ........................................................................... 78 7. Media ............................................................................................................. 79 7.1 Media Council ........................................................................................................... 79 7.2 Media in Suriname .................................................................................................... 80 7.2.1 Television stations ............................................................................................... 81 7.2.2 Newspapers ........................................................................................................