On June 28, 2026, Suriname’s newly constituted Council of State marked a key milestone in its governance mandate by officially presenting its first half-yearly progress report to Council President Jennifer Simons, alongside launching new official digital platforms to boost public accessibility and transparency.
The submitted document, the second formal report released by the body overall and the first periodic report since the current Council took office, combines a full accountability update on the institution’s operations with far-reaching strategic policy advice for the national government. Beyond detailing its core activities over the opening months of 2026, the report outlines the Council’s stance on personnel management, organizational structure, and public financial stewardship. According to the official documentation, the Council has fully accounted for all public funding allocated to it between January and April 2026, with all financial disclosures submitted to the president on schedule since the current administration of the Council took office. No public funds had been disbursed for the May and June reporting period at the time of the report’s publication.
In addition to financial accountability, the report provides a full breakdown of the Council’s legislative advisory work in the reporting period. Over the opening months of 2026, the body delivered formal feedback on six private members’ bills, 16 draft pieces of legislation, and four draft state decrees. At the request of its own members, the Council also prepared a standalone advisory analysis examining how shifting global geopolitical developments are impacting Suriname’s domestic economy, collecting input and data from multiple government ministries, regulatory agencies, and independent research institutions to inform its findings.
Drawing on this analysis, the Council formulated roughly 30 concrete policy recommendations for the government. Its core overarching conclusion calls on the administration to prioritize eight key policy areas in the coming years: expanded domestic production, food security, public healthcare access, quality education, national security, currency and price stability, and energy security.
Alongside the report’s presentation, the Council officially launched its new dedicated website and official Facebook page during the formal ceremony, with Simons heading the launch, watched by Vice President Amzad Abdoel and Council member Caroline Heilbron. The institution says the new digital channels are designed to increase transparency, allowing the general public easier access to information about the constitutional advisory body’s policy recommendations and day-to-day work.
Transparency and public accountability form the core guiding principles of the Council’s work, leadership emphasized in the ceremony. “The Council works for the people, using public resources from the people. It must never be the case that society does not know what we are working on and what activities we carry out,” a Council statement read. The full presentation and full text of the 2026 report are available for public download via the Council’s new digital platforms.