The Surinamese government wants to invest in the future of people with disabilities.

This intention was confirmed on the 10^th of November when Vice President Robert Ameerali of Suriname received the draft manifesto 'TO JOIN'  from "The Three Anchors" Foundation (member of Workability Europe).

The draft manifesto is a product of a two-day symposium on the position of people with disabilities in Surinam. Workability Europe participated in the congress. In the manifesto ten action points are formulated. The points range from

• maintaining clear criteria for assessing People with Disabilities
• having statistics available
•  to finance efficient schemes
• legislation,
• awareness of needs, methods and guidance
• the design of a employersplatform on disability and
•  training of civil servants

All these points can contribute to improve the conditions of people with disabilities in Surinam.
Martin Hubers, project manager of The Three Anchors, is optimistic about the cooperation with the government. He concludes this out the presence of two kabinet ministers at the conference: "Minister Ginmardo Kromosoetoe of ATM (Labour), who opened the symposium on Monday. And Tuesday  Mrs. Alice Amafo of Social Affairs was present, with some of her leading civil servants and policy makers. Moreover, vice president Ameerali himself  invited The Three Ankers and Workability Europe to come to his office, because he was unable to attend the conference in the start of the week.
Ameerali was in his previous role as president of the Chamber of Commerce a board member of The Three Anchors. “One of the goals of our foundation is to bring together organizations and people out of (health) care, government and industry to achieve results to support people at the "bottom" of our society” , says Hubers.
According to Huber's is the objective to offer the final version of the manifesto to Ameerali  around the end of January 2011. As one of the concrete targets, to be achieved in short term, he sees the mapping of all people with disabilities in Suriname: "Worldwide, ten percent of the population has a disability. In Suriname we come with this percentage to nearly 50 000 people. But according to the Ministry of Social Affairs, there are only six thousand people with a disability registered. They receive a monthly allowance of 125 SRD (€ 35). Another issue is the fragmentation of representation of their interests. Every week State Oil and other companies receive begging letters from an organization. We are aiming to establish a comprehensive plan to serve the interests of people with disabilities in a better way. "
"The Three Anchors" Foundation was started in September 2007 with the goal to increase the  participation in everyday life of people from less privileged sections of the Surinamese society. The foundation itself defines the target group as "people with a mental or physical disability but also young people without education, unemployed, (ex-) psychiatric patients, women below the poverty line, (ex-) drug addicts and others who for various reasons in a vulnerable state. " (Based on an article in Starnieuws, 10 Nov. 2010.)

 See also the follwowing websites:

www.coachesatwork.org

www.business4all.info

http://www.refit-sr.org/