• Contact: Jabini ​Hugo
  • Address: ​​Spectrum straat, eerste zijstraat links No. 2 ​Paramaribo, ​ Suriname​
  • Phone: 5978792300
  • Email: stgbureauvsgbestuur@gmail.com
  • Web: ​​Saamaka-oto​
  • Members:
    VSG

VSG

Vereniging van Saamaka Gemeenschappen

Member since: 2024

Working towards these commitments

Respect, protect and strengthen the land rights of women and men living in poverty, ensuring that no one is deprived of the use and control of the land on which their well-being and human dignity depend, including through eviction, expulsion or exclusion, and with compulsory changes to tenure undertaken only in line with international law and standards on human rights.
1

Secure Tenure Rights

Ensure gender justice in relation to land, taking all necessary measures to pursue both de jure and de facto equality, enhancing the ability of women to defend their land rights and take equal part in decision-making, and ensuring that control over land and the benefits that are derived thereof are equal between women and men, including the right to inherit and bequeath tenure rights.
4

Equal land rights for women

Respect and protect the inherent land and territorial rights of indigenous peoples, as set out in ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including by recognizing that respect for indigenous knowledge and cultures contributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment".
5

Secure territorial rights for Indigenous Peoples

Ensure that processes of decision-making over land are inclusive, so that policies, laws, procedures and decisions concerning land adequately reflect the rights, needs and aspirations of individuals and communities who will be affected by them. This requires the empowerment of those who otherwise would face limitations in representing their interests, particularly through support to land users' and other civil society organizations that are best able to inform, mobilize and legitimately represent marginalized land users, and their participation in multi-stakeholder platforms for policy dialogue.
7

Inclusive decision-making

Prevent and remedy land grabbing, respecting traditional land use rights and local livelihoods, and ensuring that all large-scale initiatives that involve the use of land, water and other natural resources comply with human rights and environmental obligations and are based on: the free, prior and informed consent of existing land users; a thorough assessment of economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts with respect to both women and men; democratic planning and independent oversight; and transparent contracts that respect labour rights, comply with social and fiscal obligations and are specific and binding on the sharing of responsibilities and benefits. Where adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights have occurred, concerned actors should provide for, and cooperate in, impartial and competent mechanisms to provide remedy, including through land restitution and compensation.
9

Effective actions against land grabbing

Respect and protect the civil and political rights of human rights defenders working on land issues, combat the stigmatization and criminalisation of peaceful protest and land rights activism, and end impunity for human rights violations, including harassment, threats, violence and political imprisonment
10

Protected land rights defenders

Mission

​​Acceptance, Legal recognition, improvement of social position and protection of the human rights of indigenous and tribal peoples.

Objectives

​​1. Supporting the members in defending the interests of their communities

​2. Supporting the association in its mission to achieve the recognition and protection of the land rights of the Saamaka people in Suriname, protection the human rights.

​3. To help develop and improve the leadership capacities of the members of the association using education, training, lectures, etc.

​4. Strengthening the role and legal position of the members towards their community as well as towards third parties

​5. Representing the members of the association to the national and international community

​6. Promoting unity and collaboration among members

7. ​Contributing to the protection of one’s own identity, while preserving and further developing the culture, morals, and customs of the Saamaka residents in Suriname.

Constituencies

​​The Association of Saamaka Communities (VSG) was created in March 1996 with the aim to represent the position of traditional Saamaka leaders from 74 villages (and their people) in relation to increasing human and land rights violations by the Surinamese state. As organized group, these leaders, through the VSG, could successfully take such violations to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

​The VSG is committed to helping bring about sustainable community development, well-being, and prosperity for the Saamaka community and preserving the Saamaka habitat and its ecological diversity. Today, by involving with relevant partners (e.g. national and international NGOS’s) the VSG seeks to guarantee the State and private actors’ recognition, observance and protection of the human and territorial rights of the Saamaka peoples. Further, through their involvement with these NGO’s, it seeks to promote the social, economic, environmental, cultural and political development of the Saamaka territory according to local culture and traditions but also considering the urgency to adapt, to certain extent, local development views to modern circumstances.

  • Contact: Jabini ​Hugo
  • Address: ​​Spectrum straat, eerste zijstraat links No. 2 ​Paramaribo, ​ Suriname​
  • Phone: 5978792300
  • Email: stgbureauvsgbestuur@gmail.com
  • Web: ​​Saamaka-oto​
  • Members:
    VSG
DJI_0462_bram ebus
ILC

#Suriname #VSG

Blog

Does nature love us back?

17 July 2025

Read More
_RGP9392_Riano gunther
ILC LAC

#Latin America & the Caribbean #Human Rights #Indigenous Peoples #5. Secure territorial rights for indigenous peoples #Suriname #VSG

Press Release

Indigenous and tribal peoples' rights under threat in Suriname

3 March 2025

Read More
landmark2 (2)
ILC

#Latin America & the Caribbean #Indigenous Peoples #Land monitoring, indicators and alternative reporting #Extractive industries #8. Transparent and accessible information #Suriname #VSG

Press Release

New data reveals illegal logging is devastating Suriname’s forests

28 June 2024

Read More