SURINAME / USA – Suriname today deposited its signature of accession to the Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons, during a ceremony held at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC.
Suriname’s permanent representative to the OAS, Marten Schalkwijk, said the Organization took a big step by approving the Convention in 2015. “The government of Suriname values its senior citizens and expresses this by acceding to the Convention,” said ambassador Schalkwijk, who noted that Suriname is the first Caribbean country to accede to the Convention and called on its CARICOM peers to join the initiative.
For his part, OAS secretary general Luis Almagro recalled that, according to the Pan American Health Organization, more than 8 percent of the population in the Americas was over 65 years old in 2020, and it is estimated that the percentage of older adults will be 16 percent in 2050 and 30 percent by the end of the century.
“We would like to recognize the Government of Suriname for its accession to the Convention, thereby showing its express commitment to protecting the rights of this group of people in the Hemisphere, often victims of discrimination and exclusion, and helping to move the agenda forward,” added the OAS secretary-general.
The Convention entered into force in January 2017. So far it has been adhered to by 11 States: Uruguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Suriname.
