The Scientific Research and Planning department of the General Bureau of Statistics (GBS) is tasked with compilation of the Gender Publication, since 2017 called Selected Statistics on women and men in Suriname.

The bureau thus contributes to the idea of gender. There is a great need for gender-focused statistics and attempts to satisfy this need have not always been successful. GBS seeks to collect as many statistics by sex as possible through its own surveys, as well as from external data sources, including a variety of organisations, institutions, ministries etc.

The data in this publication is broken down by sex in a number of tables and graphs.
The main areas are:

  • Education
  • Population and Health
  • Labour, Employment and Unemployment
  • Criminal Activity
  • Public Administration
  • Social Protection
  • Miscellaneous

It should be noted that a distinction must be made between the terms sex and gender. While sex refers to the innate biological differences between women and men, gender refers to the acquired social differences between women and men, such as behavioural patterns, roles, responsibilities, etc.

GBS strongly relies on external data sources. To the maximum extent possible, GBS seeks to present in its publication everything that is available and of an acceptable quality. This publication is issued every two years (in odd-numbered years).

It presents mostly secondary data from external sources.
The data is collected as follows:

  • in writing (by letter)
  • by email

The tables to be included in the publication are generally obtained in the desired format from the data providers. If the data is not available in the desired format, the raw data is sent to Scientific Research and Planning department to process it into the end result.

Some major sources are:

  • Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Research and Planning department
  • Anton de Kom University of Suriname
  • Civil Registry Office
  • Ministry of Public Health
  • Public Healthcare Office
  • Ministry of Justice and Police, Criminal Information department