Poverty in Suriname

Poverty in Suriname

            The Republic of Suriname, formally known as Dutch Guiana, is the smallest country in South America, located on the northern coast. It was a plantation colony of the Netherlands until it gained its independence on November 25, 1975. Despite its size, and with an estimated population of 580,400 in 2018, it is the most diverse in terms of ethnicity. However, seventy percent of its people live below the poverty line, making it one of the poorest countries in the world. The high level of poverty experienced in Suriname began with their colonization by the Dutch and has progressed due to poor governance and structural shortcomings. After independence, Suriname depended on Dutch aid for development, and this stopped in 2014. Their lack of financial support propelled them to focus on other sources of economic growth, such as bauxite, agriculture, oil, and gold. However, due to corruption and mismanagement by the government, poor health, sexual exploitation, lack of education, child labor, and violence, these economic activities have done little to improve the living standards of the citizens of Suriname (Fosu, Augustin Kwasi 330). This paper will address the effects of poverty on the citizens of Suriname, steps taken by the government to reduce poverty and their subsequent results, and policy suggestions that could alleviate poverty levels.

The people of Suriname, especially children, lack equal access to health care services. This leads to severe illnesses such as AIDS, being neglected. Moreover, the lack of nutritious foods magnifies the effects of diseases causing many children to be often hospitalized. An average of thirty-five percent of the population lacks health insurance. Access to water and sanitation is also inequitable, with the little water available having contaminants from small-scale gold mining, the use of excessive pesticides, and inadequate sewer systems.

There is also unequal access to education, especially in regions made up of the poor. The quality of schools, teachers, and learning aids further magnifies the inefficiency of the systems. Children are often forced to drop out of school and work due to poverty. An estimated number of eight percent of children between the ages of five to fourteen are forced to work under challenging conditions (van der Kooij, Inger W., et al. 159). Furthermore, girls are usually discouraged from continuing with their education and engaged in sex trafficking and exploitation. Generally, the levels of violent child abuse are very rampant.

Housing is an issue, with many people leaving illegally on lands they do not have ownership over. These places have no direct access to electricity, running water, or sanitary services (Heemskerk, Marieke 332). This, coupled with the high level of unemployment, leads to an increase in the crime rate. The interior areas are even more dangerous as police supervision is minimum.

In the year 2014, the government passed the National Basic Health Insurance Law. This law allows access to essential health care services by every resident of Suriname. Furthermore, to deal with the shortage of nurses and doctors, there were increased admissions to the School of Nursing and Faculty of Medicine at Anton de Kim University (Peplow et al. 11). To decentralize health facilities, especially hospitals, the government began building hospitals in remote places. The government also offers subsidies and provides public funds to hospitals to aid operations. In 2016, the government introduced a national social insurance system for every Surinamese.             Minimum packages were also offered to those considered in need of free health care insurance, that is, citizens above the age of sixty and children younger than sixteen. The policies paid off with the increase in infant life expectancy by 3.9 years (Smits et al. 15). However, the Bureau of Public Health failed to offer specialized emergency care access to those living in the interior due to the coverage of care and high transportation costs.

To support local industries, the government set bans or quota restrictions on imports. Moreover, the government announced the Action Program in 1982 that encouraged the growth of small-scale industries, rural electrification, and industrial parks establishment. These policies did not effectively work to support and develop local industries due to corruption that led to the continuous importation of cheaper substitute products.

To lower the poverty rate, the Suriname government should redirect its revenues from mineral export into improving its education and health system. These revenues should notably be redirected to disenfranchised sectors of the population. By doing so, the people will become empowered, and their human capital value will increase. People will have the opportunity to diversify their sources of income by putting their learned skills to practice. The expansion of their sources of income will lead to diversification of the government’s revenue from the export of mining products.

The government should implement human rights-based programs and policies. They should set a social protection floor that guarantees essential services and a minimum level of income. This will work towards reducing the income gap between the haves and have notes. Moreover, there should be a ban on the employment of minors, and anyone found exploiting young children should be jailed or heavily fined. People with disabilities should also be empowered by setting up training facilities that focus on people with disabilities and policies that prevent discrimination against those with disabilities.

In conclusion, the effects of poverty on the Surinamese are limited access to basic needs, health, housing and educational facilities, and exploitation of children. Although the government has put in policies to improve access the health and education, the people offering these services are few, and most of those available are not sufficiently trained. Moreover, due to corruption and mismanagement of public funds, money meant to develop schools and hospitals do not reach their intended destination, hindering any form of development. The government should take into consideration the empowerment of its people by redirecting its revenue into improving the health and education system and setting up policies that protect the rights of the people.

Works cited

Fosu, Augustin Kwasi. “Growth, inequality, and poverty reduction in developing countries: Recent global evidence.” Research in Economics 71.2 (2017): 306-336.

Heemskerk, Marieke. “Livelihood decision making and environmental degradation: Small-scale gold mining in the Suriname Amazon.” Society & Natural Resources 15.4 (2002): 327-344.

Peplow, Daniel, and Sarah Augustine. “Intervention mapping to address social and economic factors impacting indigenous people’s health in Suriname’s interior region.” Globalization and health 13.1 (2017): 11.

Smits, C. C. F., et al. “Equity in health care: an urban and rural, and gender perspective; the Suriname Health Study.” AIMS public health 5.1 (2018): 1.

van der Kooij, Inger W., et al. “A national study on the prevalence of child abuse and neglect in Suriname.” Child abuse & neglect 47 (2015): 153-161.