(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – In the coming four years, the United Nations (UN) will provide considerably less financial assistance to Suriname. The aggressiveness with which the country is looking for alternative sources of financing and the new qualification as ‘higher mid-level income country’ are the basis for this. In 2007, US$ 25 million was given in donor assistance for, among other things, public sector reform, citizens’ participation, health care and education. Suriname is currently negotiating with the UN about the financing of projects for 2012-2016. The US$25 million was part of a total of US$ 40 million the UN granted with other donors through the UN’s Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The first strategic development program ends this year. Maria de Castro, regional UN representative for Trinidad, Suriname, Aruba, and the former Netherlands Antilles, tells DWT by telephone from her office in Port of Spain, Trinidad, that she cannot say how much the UN will give this time, but it will certainly not be a large amount.
