On August 12th, 2013,
The launch of the first Human Development Atlas Suriname
(HD ATLAS) took place in the Banquet Hall of Hotel Torarica.
The Human Development Atlas Suriname (HD-ATLAS)
The HD-ATLAS is produced jointly by the General Bureau of Statistics of Suriname (GBS) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in collaboration with the other UN agencies in Suriname. Suriname is the second country, after Trinidad and Tobago in the CARICOM Region to launch a HD-ATLAS. The purpose of this Atlas is to establish a baseline and to initiate a continuous process of publishing regular updates to keep the information current and relevant. The HD-ATLAS obtains data from Population Censuses, Surveys (Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS)) and Administrative data for the time periods 2004-2006 and 2009-2010.
The HD- ATLAS presents the collection of maps and tables on the Human Development Indices and Indicators, Inequality adjusted Human Development Index, Gender Inequality Index and Multidimensional Poverty Index, Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) and Crime and Violence indicators for Suriname and its districts.
This Atlas presents the statistical information spatially disaggregated in a user friendly way, in the form of district level maps and tables and it is intended to map the patterns and trends of development for Suriname and its districts and identify where the growing disparities in development level and inequalities exist.
The next issue of a Suriname HD-ATLAS will certainly benefit from the final results of the 8th Population and Housing Census and of the forthcoming Household Budget Survey 2013/2014.
Human Development contains three broad categories: The expansion of people’s freedoms to live long, healthy and creative lives; to advance other goals they have reason to value; and to engage actively in shaping development equitably and sustainably on a shared planet. People are both the beneficiaries and the drivers of human development, as individuals and in groups.
Millennium Development Goals – MDG maps
MDG maps present the district level maps on MDG indicators such as poverty, gender, education, health, nutrition, HIV and sanitation.
Crime and Violence Maps: present the district level maps on crime and violence indicators and indicators calculated from Citizen Security Survey conducted in 2010 in Suriname and crime statistics data provided by the GBS.
UNDP and GBS hope that this Atlas will generate interest from policy-makers and the general public on issues related to human development and hopefully lead to more concerted efforts to address continuing social and development deficits in Suriname.
