Parea Suriname started as a group of friends who wanted to formalize and expand their group of friends and utilize their professional knowledge, experience and networks to add to the existing LGBT advocacy and activist landscape in Suriname and ultimately in the Caribbean region.
Parea serves as a support network, providing Surinamese LGBT professionals with social and business contacts to further their careers and enrich their lives. Our members execute projects and organize activities from which the LGBT community and with that, society as a whole, benefits. Parea offers members business and societal contacts and a support network of like-minded people. In addition to monthly activities for Parea members, ranging from networking events to workshops, sports and cultural activities, we work to contribute positively to the image of the Surinamese LGBT community.
Parea aims to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual persons with a higher vocational or academic education, equivalent qualification, or of an equivalent societal level, in the development of business and social contacts, to support their personal development, societal needs and societal aspirations.
Our goal is to have a positive impact on the LGBT landscape by empowering Parea members and executing projects that empower and further the position the LGBT community, LGBT organizations and Suriname.
Vision
A region where human rights are equal for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions.
Mission
To be the leading network and knowledge and resource centre for ongoing positive impact on the LGBT landscape through Parea members by executing programs in Suriname, the region and the world.
Goals
To form a support network for gay, bisexual and transsexual men with a higher vocational or academic education, equivalent qualification, or of an equivalent societal level, to better the situation of LGBTs in Suriname, the Caribbean region and the world and to contribute positively to society.
Organizational
Parea Suriname consists of an association of which the legal validity is still to be confirmed by the President of the Republic of Suriname and a foundation that is registered as a legal entity. Even without a being a confirmed legal entity, the association and the foundation are structurally intermingled in the statutes of both the association and the foundation.
The Member Assembly (Algemene Ledenvergadering – ALV) consists of the Parea members, who choose the Board of the association for a period of three years. The board of the association and the board of the foundation consist statutory of the same people. Since 2017, the foundation also has an Executive Management, consisting of a Managing Director and a Management Assistant.