WASHINGTON, CMC – Suriname has become the first Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to accede to the Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons,
On Monday, the Organization of American States (OAS) said the Ditch-speaking CARICOM country deposited its accession signature.
“The government of Suriname values its senior citizens and expresses this by acceding to the Convention,” said Suriname’s Permanent Representative to the OAS, Marten Schalkwijk.
He told the ceremony at the OAS headquarters that the hemispheric body took “a big step” by approving the Convention in 2015 and urged other CARICOM countries to follow the lead set by Paramaribo.
OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro, quoting figures from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), noted that more than eight percent of the population in the Americas was over 65 years old in 2020.
He said 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,” he said.
The OAS said the Convention entered into force in January 2017, and so far, it has been ratified by 11 countries.
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