Carib Scope

标签： Suriname

苏里南

  • Nieuwe escalatie: VS bombardeert Iraanse olietankers na aanvallen op Amerikaanse schepen

    Nieuwe escalatie: VS bombardeert Iraanse olietankers na aanvallen op Amerikaanse schepen

    Six months after the outbreak of open conflict between the US, Israel and Iran, tensions in the strategic Gulf region have surged to a new critical peak following a series of tit-for-tat military strikes that began in early September. The latest round of escalation started when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s elite military force, launched two separate attacks on a US Navy vessel within a 48-hour window, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM). The warship successfully evaded both attempts, and no US personnel were injured or killed in the strikes. The IRGC also carried out a separate attack on US troops stationed at a base in Jordan, setting the stage for a rapid US retaliation.

    In response to the IRGC actions, US military forces carried out targeted airstrikes against five Iranian-owned oil tankers operating in the Gulf of Oman and near Iran’s Kharg Island. CENTCOM confirmed that advance warnings were issued to the crews of the targeted vessels — identified as the M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminer, M/T Horizon 1, M/T Riesco and M/T Derya — before the strikes to allow them to evacuate. Footage circulating from the strike zone confirms that the M/T Riesco has sunk following the attack.

    Iran quickly confirmed the strikes on its oil tankers and launched an immediate counteroffensive. The IRGC announced it had carried out “intense rocket attacks” against the US Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan, claiming it destroyed hangars housing US fighter jets in the strike. Iranian military officials also added that it carried out missile strikes against two US destroyers, inflicting substantial damage on the vessels, and expanded its offensive to target 10 vessels in the broader region, two of which it claims are US-owned.

    Jordanian military authorities offered a separate account of the Al-Azraq base attacks, confirming that their air defense systems intercepted 20 ballistic missiles launched toward the base, destroying 18 of the projectiles mid-flight. No casualties were reported from the incident, with the two remaining missiles that evaded interception landing in unpopulated desert areas.

    Beyond the direct military exchanges, the escalating conflict has already had tangible global economic impacts. On Wednesday, international benchmark oil prices climbed above $100 per barrel amid fears of disrupted shipping through the region, which handles roughly a fifth of the world’s daily oil trade. Iran has already closed the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical chokepoint for oil shipments, while the US has maintained a strict maritime blockade of Iranian port facilities. Following the US tanker strikes, Iran’s foreign ministry labeled the attack a “war crime” and announced a new restricted maritime zone stretching from Iran’s Chabahar port across large swathes of the Arabian Sea, with exact coordinates of the zone set to be released in the coming days.

    Separately, the UK Maritime Trade Operations, which monitors global shipping security, reported Wednesday that an additional attack was carried out against a cargo vessel off the coast of Iraq, approximately 52 kilometers south of the al-Faw peninsula.

    In a confirmation of US policy during a diplomatic visit to Colombia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the strikes on the Iranian tankers. Rubio stated that Iran has continued to target American commercial and military vessels in the region, and that every hostile attempt from Tehran will result in further losses for Iran’s maritime and oil sectors.

    In a separate development that adds to regional tensions, the IRGC also announced that it seized an American unmanned submarine near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. US officials confirmed that a drone submarine suffered a technical malfunction during a routine surveillance mission in the area, but denied that the vessel was collecting sensitive intelligence at the time of its loss.

  • Column: Evalueren en bijsturen!

    Column: Evalueren en bijsturen!

    Suriname has long been recognized as a breeding ground for elite athletic talent. For decades, both male and female athletes from the South American nation have delivered standout individual performances that have left a lasting mark on regional and global sports, while Suriname’s national and club teams have also notched remarkable achievements in team competition over the years. In recent years, however, a clear downward trend has emerged: with only a handful of exceptions, locally trained Surinamese athletes have failed to secure competitive victories at regional and international sporting stages, leaving the sports community grappling with a pressing question: why have performances fallen so far short of expectations despite the country’s deep pool of natural talent?

    This question cannot be resolved from behind a desk, argues Surinamese sports analyst Mireille Hoepel. A comprehensive, multi-faceted investigation into the entire athlete development pipeline is urgently needed to pinpoint where the system is failing. Hoepel emphasizes the importance of assessing whether Suriname’s approach to nurturing athletes has stagnated, holding to outdated methods that worked in the past but have not adapted to evolving global sports standards. If training and development strategies have been updated in recent years, she adds, a rigorous evaluation is required to confirm whether these changes have been effective—and policymakers and sports leaders must be willing to make mid-course corrections if current approaches are not delivering results.

    To fully unpack the causes of widespread performance decline across Suriname’s sports sector, all key stakeholders and contributing factors must be examined. Hoepel notes that potential weaknesses could lie anywhere in the system: from athletes’ immediate training environments and personal support networks to access to high-quality medical and scientific backup, or even structural flaws at the level of governing sports organizations. Once the root causes of underperformance are identified, Hoepel stresses that the sports community must be prepared to implement sweeping changes to reverse the trend. Urgent reform is required to lift Surinamese sport back to a competitive, acceptable standard, and early intervention is critical: young athletes must be introduced to proper training pathways and professional expectations from the start of their careers to build the mental and technical foundation needed to compete at the highest level.

    Targeted, strategic action is particularly critical for Suriname’s most popular sport: football. Hoepel argues that the country must first identify a clear, proven formula for sustainable success before committing resources and investments to improve the sport. Without this foundational analysis, wealthier Surinamese football clubs often fall back on impulsive, ad-hoc player transfer policies. While clubs are entitled to manage their own budgets, Hoepale notes that a far more effective approach is to first map gaps in a club’s player development and squad before signing new talent.

    A recurring issue across Suriname’s local football scene, Hoepel observes, is poor finishing accuracy among domestic players, a problem that plagues nearly all of the country’s clubs. To address this widespread gap, Hoepel proposes that the Suriname Football Federation (SVB) reach out to Surinamese football professionals based in the diaspora to leverage their specialized expertise. By sharing their knowledge and experience with local clubs, these experienced professionals could deliver a much-needed quality boost to the goal-scoring ability of Suriname’s homegrown footballers, helping to lift the overall standard of the sport across the country.

  • Waarnemend president Venezuela donderdag in Suriname voor besprekingen

    Waarnemend president Venezuela donderdag in Suriname voor besprekingen

    Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez will touch down in Suriname Thursday evening at the head of a high-level governmental delegation, bringing a long-postponed diplomatic visit back on track after months of delays. Multiple working discussions are scheduled for Friday, and bilateral agreements between the two South American nations are widely expected to be signed during the event, according to local reporting.

    As of press time, the Surinamese government has not released any official public statement detailing the visit or its full agenda. Local outlet Starnieuws has confirmed that logistical preparations for the visit are already well underway, with Venezuelan security officials having already arrived in Suriname to coordinate safety arrangements for Rodríguez and her delegation.

    Key details surrounding the trip remain under wraps: officials have not yet disclosed what specific agreements will be signed, what core topics will take center stage during bilateral talks, or even the full composition of the Venezuelan visiting delegation.

    Rodríguez assumed leadership of Venezuela’s executive branch in January this year, after a dramatic shift in the country’s political landscape. A former vice president under long-time leader Nicolás Maduro, she stepped into the acting presidency after Maduro and his wife were detained during a U.S. military operation inside Venezuelan territory on January 3, and subsequently transferred to the United States to face criminal prosecution.

    Since taking office, Rodríguez has overseen a significant warming of diplomatic and economic ties between Caracas and Washington. Her administration has already signed a landmark broad energy agreement with the United States, and has made active efforts to court foreign direct investment into Venezuela’s critical oil sector. Earlier this month, Rodríguez was present for the signing of new cooperation deals between the Venezuelan government and major international energy firms, including U.S.-based Chevron and Italy’s Eni.

    This upcoming visit to Suriname was first scheduled earlier this year. Back in June, the Surinamese Cabinet of the President announced that Rodríguez would carry out a courtesy visit to Surinamese President Jennifer Simons on June 23, with a joint press briefing at the Presidential Palace also on the public schedule. However, just days after the announcement, the cabinet confirmed the visit would be postponed without explanation.

    Now, Rodríguez’s trip is finally going ahead this week, with a broader scope than the original courtesy visit. Beyond the scheduled working meetings, the diplomatic agenda now explicitly includes the signing of new bilateral agreements between the two neighboring countries.

  • Marco Rubio start tour door Latijns-Amerika in strijd om Amerikaanse invloed

    Marco Rubio start tour door Latijns-Amerika in strijd om Amerikaanse invloed

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Colombia on Tuesday, marking the first stop of his multi-nation tour across Latin America, a trip designed to strengthen ties with pro-U.S. regional leaders and shore up Washington’s long-standing influence in the Western Hemisphere. The visit comes on the heels of a major political shift in Bogotá, after conservative Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella — a U.S.-aligned former lawyer — won recent presidential elections, turning a page on the tense relationship between Washington and his left-wing predecessor Gustavo Petro. Since taking office, de la Espriella has pivoted to a hardline crackdown on drug cartels and organized crime, ending peace negotiations with armed rebel groups that defined Petro’s tenure.

    During this visit, Rubio and de la Espriella met in Barranquilla, a key Colombian Caribbean port city, for a signing ceremony that highlighted the deepening bilateral partnership. In the weeks since de la Espriella assumed office, Colombia has ramped up aerial counter-narcotics operations and authorized expanded joint military exercises with U.S. forces. The country has also formally joined the Shield of the Americas, a Trump-administration led alliance focused on combating transnational drug trafficking.

    While the official core priority of Rubio’s stop is boosting counter-narcoterrorism cooperation, the two leaders are also set to discuss post-disaster reconstruction following the devastating August 10 earthquake that struck Colombia’s major coffee-growing region. The quake killed more than 330 people and leveled critical public and private infrastructure, prompting de la Espriella to formally request U.S. support, including a temporary suspension of Colombian customs duties to lower reconstruction costs and speed up recovery efforts.

    Rubio’s three-nation tour, which will also include stops in Ecuador and Peru, comes amid a sweeping conservative wave across Latin America that has followed Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency in January 2025. In recent years, voters across Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica and Honduras have elected right-wing governments aligned with U.S. policy priorities, creating a favorable landscape for Washington to advance its regional agenda.

    The Trump administration has openly stated its goal of reasserting U.S. hegemony in South America, building on the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine and rebranding the framework as the “Donroe Doctrine” in a nod to the current U.S. president. Rubio, a Cuban-American politician with long-standing ties to hardline anti-communist and pro-U.S. regional policy, is the primary architect of this new strategy, which is now enshrined in Washington’s updated National Security Strategy.

    After wrapping up his meetings in Colombia, Rubio will travel to Ecuador to meet with President Daniel Noboa, where the two sides will discuss ongoing joint operations to disrupt drug trafficking networks, including the notorious criminal group Los Choneros. The U.S. has already led a year-long campaign of airstrikes targeting suspected drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, a campaign that has left more than 200 people dead and drawn widespread international criticism over insufficient evidentiary standards and widespread human rights concerns.

    The final stop on Rubio’s tour will be Peru, where right-wing pro-U.S. leader Keiko Fujimori has held the presidency since July, cementing another pro-Washington government in the region.

  • Gajadien: Verhoging directeur aanhouden om doorwerking naar politieke top te voorkomen

    Gajadien: Verhoging directeur aanhouden om doorwerking naar politieke top te voorkomen

    On September 9, Asis Gajadien, leader of the VHP parliamentary faction, submitted an urgent formal request to Suriname’s President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, calling for a temporary hold on a planned 15 percent salary adjustment for the Director of General Administration. The core goal of this request is to prevent the pay raise from triggering automatic incremental salary increases for the president and other senior political officeholders, a consequence that would stem from existing statutory linkage rules embedded in current public administration law.

    Gajadien has emphasized that his appeal does not target salary adjustments for general civil servants across the public sector. He confirmed that the planned 15 percent pay increase for all other eligible public employees should proceed in full as scheduled. The request exclusively targets the Director of General Administration position due to its unique legal pay linkage to the presidency, a structural connection that has sparked calls for reform.

    The parliamentarian sent the urgent letter to the president on Wednesday, routed through Ashwin Adhin, Speaker of the National Assembly (DNA). Under the current legal framework, the president’s official salary is explicitly tied to the pay level of the Director of General Administration. Any adjustment to the director’s pay therefore automatically flows through to the presidency, and under additional separate legal provisions, the change then cascades to set pay for all other political officeholders across the government.

    Gajadien argues that this automatic statutory linkage is no longer aligned with principles of good governance. He pointed out that during parliamentary deliberation on the Law on Monetary Provisions for the President, he already proposed amending the legislation to set the president’s salary as a fixed, explicit monetary amount in statute, rather than keeping it dependent on the pay of a career civil service position.

    Currently, a private member’s bill is being prepared to permanently end this automatic cross-linked pay system. If passed, the legislation will set the president’s salary as a specific, legally defined amount. Going forward, any salary adjustments for other public administration roles would only serve as an indicative reference point, and would no longer trigger automatic indexing of the presidency’s pay or that of other political officeholders.

    Pending parliamentary review and approval of this reform bill, Gajadien is asking the president to issue a resolution to temporarily suspend the 15 percent salary adjustment for the Director of General Administration. This temporary pause would prevent the automatic cascading pay increases for the president and other linked political positions from taking effect ahead of the planned legal change.

    Once the private member’s bill is debated and approved, Gajadien notes that the Director of General Administration’s salary can be adjusted in line with general public sector salary trends as planned, without the change automatically impacting the pay of political officeholders.

    The VHP faction leader added that the temporary hold would leave the existing legal foundation for the pay system fully intact during the transition period. He has asked the president to consider his request in the broader public interest, citing commitments to greater transparency, proper public administration, and a careful, orderly legal transition to the new pay framework.

  • Minouche Bromet neemt vanaf 15 september leiding SZF over

    Minouche Bromet neemt vanaf 15 september leiding SZF over

    On September 9, public health authorities in Suriname announced a key leadership transition at the nation’s Staatsziekenfonds (SZF), the country’s public state health insurance fund. Starting September 15, Minouche Bromet will step into the role of acting general director to steer the organization while formal appointment processes are finalized.

    Internal stakeholders have already been notified of the leadership change: SZF staff received word of the transition via an internal memorandum on the same day the announcement was made, and Marciano Djanam, chair of the SZF board of directors, was formally briefed by relevant ministry officials.

    André Misiekaba, Minister of Public Health, Welfare and Labor (VWA), confirmed that he has officially put Bromet forward as the nominee for the permanent position of general director of the SZF. This nomination aligns fully with Article 16 of the statutes governing the State Health Fund Foundation, the legal framework that structures the agency’s operations.

    The decision to appoint an acting director ahead of final formal confirmation is rooted in a commitment to preserving organizational continuity. With the formal appointment process still requiring final completion, the interim appointment ensures no disruption to the SZF’s core public health services and daily operations. During her acting tenure, Bromet will oversee all day-to-day management of the fund, carrying out her duties in strict accordance with the foundation’s governing statutes.

    Bromet’s move to the permanent general director role remains contingent on two key milestones: the completion of all legally required formal procedural steps, and the final approval of Suriname’s Council of Ministers. Once both requirements are satisfied, the nomination will be finalized and Bromet will take on the permanent leadership position.

  • Regering wil pensioengat door nieuwe loonreeks voorkomen

    Regering wil pensioengat door nieuwe loonreeks voorkomen

    On September 8, the government of Suriname formally approved a revised 15% pay scale structure for all civil servants and equivalent public sector employees, set to take retroactive effect starting September 1 this year. As the policy rollout approaches, the administration has introduced a landmark protective provision aimed at eliminating unfair disparities in retirement benefits that could arise solely from the timing of a worker’s exit from public service.

  • VVI brengt risicowegen in kaart voor gerichte aanpak verkeersveiligheid

    VVI brengt risicowegen in kaart voor gerichte aanpak verkeersveiligheid

    Three major roads in Suriname – Indira Gandhiweg, Martin Luther Kingweg, and Garnizoenspad – have been flagged as high-risk corridors after local data showed a disproportionately high rate of traffic collisions, including severe and fatal crashes. Now, the country’s Road Safety Institute (Verkeersveiligheidsinstituut, VVI) is launching a comprehensive mapping project to document all accident-prone routes and dangerous intersections across the nation, laying the groundwork for targeted infrastructure and policy interventions to cut crash rates.

    Purcy Landveld, VVI’s deputy director for Data, Education and Information, explained that initial analysis of aggregated traffic collision data confirms these three roads require immediate priority attention. The project will use formal blackspot analysis methodology to pinpoint exactly which intersections and road segments carry the highest risk of crashes. The resulting granular, up-to-date data will be shared with the Ministry of Public Works and Spatial Planning (OWRO), enabling policymakers to direct limited safety improvement resources to the locations where they will deliver the greatest public safety benefit.

    Lucretia Beeldstroo, OWRO’s deputy director for Traffic and Mobility, noted that a formal Terms of Reference (TOR) for the mapping and analysis project has already been finalized. An open tender process will soon be launched to select qualified engineering firms to conduct detailed on-site assessments of Indira Gandhiweg, Martin Luther Kingweg, and other high-risk corridors. The assessments will go far beyond evaluating road design and infrastructure: analysts will also study the behavior and movement patterns of all road users, from motorists to pedestrians and cyclists.

    As part of the data collection process, surveillance cameras will be installed at high-traffic intersections to capture real-time data on traffic flows and high-risk maneuvers that contribute to collisions. Assessors will also examine a wide range of other contributing factors, including posted speed limits, street lighting quality, road visibility for drivers, road line markings, pedestrian crossing facilities, and right-of-way rules at intersections. Beeldstroo added that preliminary safety upgrades are already underway at multiple accident-prone locations across the country, with workers adding fresh road markings and installing missing or outdated traffic signs. She emphasized that OWRO is moving forward with all feasible improvements within its current budget and authority to reduce preventable traffic deaths and injuries.

    VVI leadership stresses that a long-term, systematic approach is non-negotiable to meaningfully reduce the number of traffic injuries and fatalities across Suriname. Road usage patterns are constantly shifting: the national vehicle fleet continues to grow, overall mobility levels are rising, and road user behavior changes over time alongside these shifts. For that reason, VVI argues that all road safety interventions must be rooted in the latest, most accurate local traffic data, rather than outdated assumptions or one-size-fits-all policies.

    Landveld emphasized that improving road safety cannot be achieved by a single government agency or organization. Cross-ministerial collaboration and partnerships with additional relevant stakeholders are essential to develop a cohesive, effective national road safety strategy. “That is exactly VVI’s core mission: bring all relevant stakeholders to the table, translate raw traffic data into actionable, concrete improvement measures, and work collectively to build a safer road network for all,” Landveld said.

  • Van malariavrij naar zorg in nood: wat gebeurt er met het binnenland?

    Van malariavrij naar zorg in nood: wat gebeurt er met het binnenland?

    When Suriname’s current ruling coalition took power after the 2025 general elections, it won a clear and undeniable political mandate from voters in the country’s interior districts. Over 17,000 votes were cast for the coalition partners — the National Democratic Party (NDP), ABOP, NPS, PL, BEP and A20 — across Brokopondo and Sipaliwini alone, with the leading NDP securing more than 7,700 votes across the two regions. This popular support, however, comes with equally clear political responsibility, and that responsibility is now being put to the test by a alarming crisis in the country’s most critical rural healthcare provider.

    Medische Zending, the organization that forms the backbone of primary healthcare for Suriname’s interior communities, has issued an urgent warning that its financial position has deteriorated to a critical level. Key operational funding has dried up, outstanding debts continue to mount, medical transportation services are on the brink of collapse, drug supplies are increasingly insecure, and dozens of outpatient clinics across the region are grappling with unresolved, dangerous maintenance backlogs. This is not a marginal, little-known community group: it delivers core primary care services that would otherwise be unavailable to tens of thousands of people, including maternal and child health services, routine vaccination programs, pharmaceutical care, emergency response, and disease surveillance across remote, hard-to-reach areas.

    What makes this crisis particularly stark is that it is unfolding under the watch of the very ruling party that now holds power, rather than a previous opposition-led administration. The contrast between the high of mid-2025 and today’s crisis could not be more dramatic. On 30 June 2025, the World Health Organization officially certified Suriname as malaria-free, making it the first country in the entire Amazon region to achieve this landmark public health victory. At the time, the WHO itself emphasized that reaching this status depended entirely on consistent, quality care reaching even the most isolated interior communities.

    As the former Minister of Health who led the country through that certification process, I stressed then a point that is far more urgent today than it was even six months ago: earning malaria-free status is one achievement, but maintaining it is an unending, non-negotiable responsibility. The WHO itself repeatedly underscored this need for constant vigilance. That historic win was not the work of a single politician or a single administration; it was the product of decades of tireless work from frontline healthcare workers, the National Malaria Program, Medische Zending, interior communities, and global public health partners. Since the 1970s, Medische Zending has been at the center of the country’s malaria elimination efforts, reaching remote communities that no other healthcare provider could serve.

    That is where the bitter political irony of today’s crisis lies. The very rural healthcare networks that made it possible to drive down malaria cases and earn Suriname international acclaim are now fighting to stay financially afloat. Eliminating malaria was a tremendous public health achievement; keeping it eliminated is the current government’s core responsibility. A WHO certification is not an end point. Holding that status requires constant disease surveillance, rapid detection of any new cases, and the ability to respond immediately to new outbreaks. This is especially critical for Suriname, which shares borders with countries where malaria remains endemic, and has high population mobility across remote gold mining regions that create constant risk of reintroduction.

    This leaves current Health Minister André Misiekaba, Chair of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Public Health Silvana Afonsoewa, and former opposition critic Jennifer Vreedzaam, who repeatedly issued public critiques of health policy between 2020 and 2025, with unavoidable questions. How do you plan to defend Suriname’s malaria-free status if you allow the interior’s healthcare system to be hollowed out by chronic underfunding? How will you reverse falling vaccination coverage when that directly increases the risk of deadly childhood disease outbreaks across remote communities? How can you guarantee the continued operation of critical medical outposts when frontline workers cannot even travel safely to their posts and are forced to work in dangerous, substandard conditions?

    Between 2024 and 2025, the previous administration made concrete progress to shore up interior healthcare: we secured a full year of medical supplies and equipment, and invested in expanding outpatient care infrastructure including the new Soekoenale clinic that just opened its doors. That progress should have been continued and scaled up by the new government. For years, the current ruling party, then in opposition, freely criticized the previous Santokhi administration and former health leaders. Today, the tables have turned. The NDP leads the government, Misiekaba holds the health ministry portfolio, and Afonsoewa leads the parliamentary health committee. There is no longer any room to blame the previous administration for ongoing failures.

    Interior voters gave this coalition their trust and their votes. Now they are entitled to demand tangible results — not empty speeches, not political excuses, not endless blame shifting to the past. The government must act immediately to secure the funding Medische Zending needs to continue operating, protect the interior’s fragile healthcare system, and safeguard the historic malaria-free status Suriname fought for decades to achieve.

    It would be a tragic, bitter irony if Suriname first made global public health history by eliminating malaria, only to lose that status through administrative neglect that weakens the very care systems that made the achievement possible in the first place. The interior turned out and gave this government its mandate. Now it is time for the government to show that vote was worth something. The coalition campaigned on a promise of change. That promise was clear. The people of the interior deserve to see that promise kept for their healthcare.

  • Hoe groot is Afrika echt? Waarom de VN stemde om de wereldkaart te veranderen

    Hoe groot is Afrika echt? Waarom de VN stemde om de wereldkaart te veranderen

    On September 8, the United Nations General Assembly took a landmark step to address centuries of geographic bias in global mapping, approving a resolution led by African nations that encourages member states to adopt the Equal Earth map projection — a alternative that corrects the size distortions that have minimized the Global South on traditional maps for hundreds of years.

    The resolution, which won backing from 164 member states, faces only one opposing vote from the United States, with six Eastern European nations — Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine — abstaining from the vote. The core goal of the measure is to promote a more geographically accurate representation of the world’s continents, replacing the widely used Mercator projection, which was originally developed in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator for maritime navigation.

    For centuries, the Mercator projection’s design has skewed public perception of global landmasses. Created to preserve straight lines for ocean navigation, it exaggerates the size of land masses closer to the poles while shrinking territories near the equator. This distortion leaves northern, wealthier regions appearing far larger than they actually are relative to equatorial and southern nations. For example, on Mercator maps, Africa appears roughly the same size as Greenland, but in reality, Africa is 14 times larger than the Arctic island. In actual area, Africa spans 30.3 million square kilometers — large enough to fit the entire United States, China, India, and most of Europe within its borders. Combined, the four regions disproportionately shrunk by Mercator — Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and Oceania — cover more than 64 million square kilometers, over 40% of the world’s total land area. By contrast, the entire continent of Europe only measures 10.2 million square kilometers.

    The Equal Earth projection, launched in 2018 by three cartographers from the Environmental Systems Research Institute, U.S. National Park Service, and Australia’s Monash University, fixes this long-standing bias. Co-creator Bojan Savric explained in a 2025 interview with AFP that the projection preserves the relative size of all continents while retaining accurate representations of their shapes, matching how landmasses appear on a three-dimensional globe.

    Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, whose country led the resolution effort, emphasized that maps are far more than navigational tools. “Maps shape education, fuel public imagination, and shape collective global perceptions,” he said, adding that the adopted resolution “affirms the African reality” that has been erased and minimized for centuries.

    Reactions to the resolution have been largely positive among supporting nations. France, a co-sponsor of the text, has already announced it will abandon the Mercator projection for official use. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot noted that the traditional projection gives the U.S., Russia, and China “disproportionate visual dominance over Africa, Latin America, or Southeast Asia,” while perpetuating the false illusion that Greenland is nearly as large as Africa. “Changing maps will not change the world on its own,” Barrot said. “But correcting a distorted representation is already an act of truth.”

    The resolution faced sharp criticism from the U.S. delegation. U.S. representative Yaryna Ferencevych argued that the debate over 16th-century map projections distracts the UN from addressing pressing global issues, claiming the resolution is evidence the body “is losing its credibility.”

    Notably, the UN resolution is not legally binding for member states. The world body has stressed it does not ban the Mercator projection or mandate a universal replacement, and instead only encourages governments and international institutions worldwide to adopt the Equal Earth projection as a new standard for more accurate geographic representation.