COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILDForty-fourth session15 January – 2 February 2007

WRITTEN REPLIES BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SURINAME CONCERNING THE LIST OF ISSUES (CRC/C/SUR/Q/2) RECEIVED BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD RELATING TO THE CONSIDERATION OF THE SECOND PERIODIC REPORT OF SURINAME (CRC/C/SUR/2)

[Received on 28 November 2006]

_________________

*In accordance with the information transmitted to States parties regarding the processing of their reports, the present document was not formally edited before being sent to the United Nations translation services.

GE.06-45835 (E) 081206

PART 1

DATA AND STATISTICS, IF AVAILABLE

1. NUMBER OF CHILDREN UNDER 18 LIVING IN THE STATE PARTY

The data available is based on the census of 2004, executed by the General Bureau of Statistics in Suriname.

Number of children living in the State Party specify in age, sex and area’s (2004)

Area	0-4 Male Female	5-6 Male Female	10-14 Male Female	15-19 Male Female
Urban	11942 11322	11250 11014	10478 10405	11626 11344
Rural/Remote	14291 14245	13945 13192	12402 11841	11630 11691
Total	26233 25567	25195 24206	22880 22246	23456 23035

Number of children living in the state party specify in ethnic (2004)

Ethnic	0-4 Male Female	5-6 Male Female	10-14 Male Female	15-19 Male Female
Amerindian	960 967	999 998	789 860	762 783
Maroons	6492 6315	5321 5171	4445 4436	3742 4167
Creoles	4066 3667	3870 3410	3442 3527	4221 3765
Indian	5131 5022	5954 5583	6048 5623	6389 6374
Javanese	2613 2463	2883 2806	2678 2482	2912 2612
Chinese	261 1862	245 189	369 284	370 364
Others	6710 6947	5873 6049	5089 5034	5060 4970
Total	26233 25567	25195 24206	22880 22246	23456 23035

2A. DATA ON BUDGET ALLOCATION AND TRENDS REGARDING EDUCATION

Data not yet available.

2B. DATA ON BUDGET ALLOCATION AND TRENDS REGARDING HEALTH CARE

GDP per capita (population 2000: 436,786)	1,915 US $
Total Health Expenditure/capita	180.33 US $
Total Health Expenditure as % of the GDP	9.42 %
Public Health expenditure (Government share) as % of Total Health Expenditure	43.33 %
Public health expenditure as % of the GDP	4.07 %

Source: National Health Account 2000.

The public and the private sector spend the same on health:

- Government about 43 %,

- The private sector 42 % and

- The remaining 15 %: external sources (donors)

- 55 % à secondary care (public and private hospitals, medical specialists, hospital lab and x-ray services, hospital drugs)

- 34 % à preventive and primary care (Bureau of Public Health, Regional Health Services, Medical Mission, private general practitioners, others)

- 11 % à other aspects (administration, training, etc.

2C – 2F, 2H & 2J. PROGRAMMES AND SERVICES FOR THE MENTIONED CHILDREN/ FAMILIES

In Suriname, the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing (SoZaVo) is responsible for the execution of a social provisions programme to support families who are qualified as poor. For this, the ministry uses own criteria, based on the income of the person (applicant).

According to a decision from the Board of Ministers dated October 2, 2000, a person is eligible for financial assistance if he/she has a monthly income up till Surinamese dollars (SRD) 40 (US $ 15) and is eligible for a medical card (in case he/she has no medical insurance), if he/she has a monthly income up till SRD 80 (US $ 29).

Note: the ministry is aware of the fact that this criterion is outdated and has therefore initiated a project in collaboration with the IDB to revise the criteria. This project is currently being prepared since a household survey will be executed in order to determine which indicators are applicable when identifying the poverty status of a person/household.

All persons in Suriname can apply for social provisions, unless they meet the criteria. The following provisions are part of this programme and target children and their families:

financial assistance for children with disabilities (UPH): parents with children with disabilities receive a monthly amount of Surinamese dollars (SRD) 100 (US $ 36) per child.

Financial assistance for adults with disabilities (UPH): adults with disabilities or their trustee can apply for this provision and receive a monthly amount of SRD 100 (US $ 36)

Financial assistance for individuals/households (FB): with reference to the above-mentioned, if an individual earns up till SRD 40 per month, he/she can apply for this provision. The received benefit varies from SRD 33 up till SRD 40 (the variation concerns the size of the household).

Subsidies for institutions taking care of children with disabilities: institutions are subsidized based on a deficit in their exploitation costs (the institution submits a year report and states how much their own contribution is and how much they want the ministry to subsidize or receive a subsidy per child per day, which is SRD 4,50.

Medical provision (GH): persons/families who have no medical insurance (either for themselves and their children) and meet the criteria (namely earnings up till SRD 80 (US $ 29) per month can apply for a medical card which cover expenses for primary health care at the clinics of the Regional Health Services, medicine, lab examination, hospitalization, X-ray, rehabilitation and haemodialysis. It needs mentioning that childcare institutions also apply for the medical card for the children under their care. In this case, the income norm is not applicable. This medical care is provided by the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing and counts as a provision to meet poor people. Aside from this form of medical provision, there is the possibility Of insuring at the State Health Insurance Fund (SZF): this can be done voluntarily, but for civil servants there is an obligation to take a medical insurance at this Fund. Further there are private insurance companies at which a medical insurance can be entered into.

Child allowance (AKB): parents who are not receiving child allowance through their employer or who are not employed, can apply for a child allowance which is SRD 3 (US $ 1) per month per child

School clothing: parents who have an monthly earning up till SRD 80 ( US $ 29) can apply for a financial benefit in order to compensate for the expenses made in regard to purchasing school clothing, shoes and materials.

The amount differs per level of schooling namely:

kindergarten: the amount per child was for the school year 2003/2004: SRD 8 (US $ 3) and for the school year 2005/2006: SRD 10 (US $ 3.60)

primary education, grades 1 – 6: the amount per child for the school year 2003/2004: SRD 23 (US $ 8.30) and for the school year 2005/2006: SRD 28 (US $ 10)

secondary education: the amount per child for the school year 2003/2004: SRD 25 (US $ 9) and for the school year 2005/2006: SRD 31 (US $ 11.20)

for secondary vocational education: the amount per child for the school year 2003/2004: SRD 35 (US $ 12.70) and for the school year 2005/2006: SRD 43 (US $ 15.60)

Note: for the school year 2004/2005 there was no registration for school clothing

due to budgetary problems.

Provision of food for childcare institutions and day care centers: the division “Kindervoeding (child feeding)” provides cooked meals, vegetables and mild to institutions taking care of children.

Aside from the material provisions, there are also divisions within the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing that provide guidance to families and children. For children specifically there is the division Youth Care, which registers cases of children who have problems at home e.g. abused children, parents having problems with children etc. This division places children either in childcare institutions or guides the families and the children.

2C. DATA ON BUDGET ALLOCATIONS AND TRENDS REGARDING PROGRAMMES AND SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

We are not able to provide exact figures on the expenditures for the services on children with disabilities. The current databases are operated manually and retrieving the data will take many months. The ministry of Social Affairs and Housing is responsible for the above-mentioned services and has initiated in 2004 the automation of all services. This project that is know as the SIS (SoZaVo Information System) is now being implemented but is a big and time-consuming project. With regard to child allowance, school clothing and medical card, there is up till now no specific registration whether the child on whom the service is applicable has a disability.

2D – 2F, 2H & 2J: DATA ON BUDGET ALLOCATIONS AND TRENDS FOR SUPPPORT PROGRAMMES FOR FAMILIES, SUPPORT TO CHILDREN, PROTECTION OF CHILDREN IN NEED OF ALTERNATIVE CARE INLCUDING THE SUPPORT OF CARE INSTITUTIONS, PROGRAMMES AND SERVICES FOR ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN AND SOCIAL SECURITY AND SUBSIDIES FOR FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY

Service	2004 realization absolute figures	2005 realization absolute figures	2006 estimated figures
Children receiving UPH	na	na	na
FB	2.895.928 (including UPH)	2.651.490 (incl UPH)	9.000.000
Subsidies to institu-tions	1.438.809.21	2.074.048	2.890.500
GH	37.676.914	56.035.235	73.657.000
AKB	422.470.20	530.361	800.000
School clothing	-	243.746.50	250.000
Food for childcare institutions and day care centers	342.019.55	131.656.25	225.000

Note: the information on the percentage of the national budget or GDP was not available.

2I. DATA ON BUDGET ALLOCATION FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE

Projects	Year
2004	2005	2006
SRD	SRD	SRD
Construction Juvenile pre-detention Center (opa Doeli)	2.721.000 (US $ 971.785,71)	2.723.000 (US $ 972500)	4.532.500(US $ 1.618.750)
Construction Juvenile Correctional Center	1.800.000 (US $ 642.857,14)	700.000 (US $ 250.000)	200.000 (US $ 71.428,57)
Alternative sanctions	-	-	165.000 (US $ 58.928,57)

Financing by donor agencies overall (thus not specifically targeting children)

- Health sector: 39.380.881 euro

- Education sector: 31.480.324 euro

Other sectors:

- Environment sector: 36.441.822

- Housing sector: 26.853.104 euro

- Water sector: 21.100.000

- Infrastructure sector: 68.470.123

- Community development: 18.841.633

3A. DATA OF CHILDREN SEPERATED FROM THEIR PARENTS

The data that is available concerns children living in institutions or in foster families.

Data concerning children living in institutions: ref 3B.

Data on children living in foster families: ref 3C.

3B. DATA OF CHILDREN PLACE IN INSTITUTIONS AND THE NUMBER OF INSTITUTIONS

The ministry of Social Affairs and Housing has prepared the establishment of a registration system for children in institutions namely the “children in need of special protection” – CNSP system. An important remark that can be made in this regard is that many of the institutions lack the capacity to maintain the system but also when children are entered into the an institution, much background information is not available with the consequence that many questions are left unanswered. At the start of the project around 1999, the aim of the project was that the participating institutions make this system part of their administration. For the bigger institutions such was successful but for institutions with less personnel it did not succeed.

Per November 2006, 47 institutions have been registered in this system. As far as the ministry could trace down institutions, this number is what she could find up till now. The tracing was done in collaboration with the private organization, Vereniging Particuliere Sociale Instellingen – VPSI (Federation of Private Social Institutions) and child care institutions. But it does not mean that there are no more institutions.

Number of institutions per November 2006: 47

Number of institutions per November 2006 in urban areas: 38

Number of institutions per November 2006 in rural areas: 9

Number of institutions registered in CNSP end 2003: 20

Number of children living in institutions 2003

age groups	male	female	total
0 – 3	129	145	274
4 – 6	153	128	281
7 – 9	165	133	298
10 – 12	114	120	234
13 – 15	46	50	96
16 – 18	1	-	1
	608	576	1184

Numbers of institutions in CNSP end 2004: 32

Number of children living in institutions 2004

age groups	Male	female	total
0 – 3	147	155	302
4 – 6	168	142	310
7 – 9	189	153	342
10 – 12	124	130	254
13 – 15	53	54	107
16 – 18	2	-	2
	683	634	1317

Number of institutions registered in CNSP end 2005: 47

Number of children living in institutions 2005

age groups	male	female	total
0 – 3	159	169	328
4 – 6	177	157	334
7 – 9	199	167	366
10 – 12	131	138	269
13 – 15	64	68	132
16 – 18	4	4	8
	734	703	1437

Note: data on the geographical location was difficult to retrieve, since not of all children their home address is known. Many children are also going from one institution to another, therefore if at the beginning all data was not captured, it’s hard to find it.

3C. DATA ON CHILDREN PLACED WITH FOSTER FAMILIES

There are figures available of placement of children through the Foundation for Foster Care in Suriname and the Bureau for Family and Legal Affairs of the ministry of Justice and Police.

- Figures from the foundation for foster care

number of children placed in foster care end 2003

age groups	male	female	total
0 – 3	-	-	-
4 – 6	2	1	3
7 – 9	3	1	4
10 – 12	-	-	-
13 – 15	1	1	2
16 – 18	-	-	-
	6	3	9

number of children placed in foster care end 2004

age groups	male	female	total
0 – 3	1	-	1
4 – 6	2	3	5
7 – 9	1	-	1
10 – 12	-	1	1
13 – 15	1	-	1
16 – 18	-	-	-
	5	4	9

number of children placed in foster care end 2005

age groups	male	female	total
0 – 3	3	1	4
4 – 6	-	-	-
7 – 9	1	5	6
10 – 12	2	5	7
13 – 15	2	2	4
16 – 18	-	-	-
	9	13	22

- The Bureau for Family and Legal Affairs from the ministry of Justice and Police had placed over the years 2003 and 2004 respectively 119 and 102 children in foster families. Other data about sex, age groups and the areas where these children come from is yet not available.

Placements in 2005

Total	Age groups	sex	Areas
0-8	9-18	Girls	Boys	urban	rural/remote
69	35	34	51	18	43	26

3D. DATA ON CHILDREN ADOPTED DOMESTICALLY OR THROUGH INTER COUNTRY ADOPTIONS

Year	age groups	sex	areas	Type of adoption
0-8	9-18	Girls	Boys	urban	rural/remote	domestic	Inter-country
2003	3	3	3	3	6		6
2004	8		4	4	6	2	7	1
2005	2	1	2	1	2	1	3

4A. DATA ON CHILFDREN WITH DISABILITIES LIVING WITH THEIR FAMILIES

This data is not available. There are only the numbers of children receiving financial assistance (UPH) from the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing of which you can say that they live with their parents. Number of children in 2004 was 407; number of children in 2005 was 321.

4B. DATA ON CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN INSTITUTIONS

Number of institutions regarding this target group per November 2006: 8 (1 located in rural area and the rest in the urban areas)

Number of institutions registered in CNSP end 2003: 6

Number of children living in institutions 2003

age groups	male	female	total
0 – 3	52	40	92
4 – 6	56	38	94
7 – 9	44	19	63
10 – 12	17	12	29
13 – 15	2	4	6
16 – 18	-	-	-
	171	113	284

Number of institutions registered in CNSP end 2004: 8

Number of children living in institutions 2004

age groups	male	female	total
0 – 3	52	41	93
4 – 6	59	41	100
7 – 9	44	22	66
10 – 12	19	12	31
13 – 15	2	4	6
16 – 18	-	-	-
	176	120	296

Number of institutions registered in CNSP end 2005: 8

Number of children living in institutions 2005

age groups	male	female	total
0 – 3	53	41	94
4 – 6	61	41	102
7 – 9	44	24	68
10 – 12	20	12	32
13 – 15	2	6	8
16 – 18	-	1	1
	180	125	305

4C. DATA ON CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES PLACED WITH FOSTER CARE

As far as can be traced, no children with disabilities have been placed with foster care. This information was provided by the Foundation for Foster Care (stichting Pleeggezin-nen) in Suriname.

4D. DATA ON CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES ATTENDING REGULAR SCHOOLS

4E. DATA ON CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES ATTENDING SPECIAL SCHOOLS

4F. DATA ON CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES NOT ATTENDING ANY SCHOOLS

All data not yet available.

5A. DATA ON RATES OF INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY

The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in Suriname has remained relatively stable around 20 per 1,000 live births; 2000: 20.2; 2001: 15.9; 2002: 21.1; 2003: 19.9; 2004: 19.2.

The Under-five Mortality Rate (< 5MR) shows a peak in 2000 (presumably attributed to improved reporting system, as is assumed for the high IMR for the same year) but is considered Stable around 25 per 1,000 live births; 2000: 27.2; 2001: 21.7; 2002: 22.6; 2003: 23.9; 2004: 24.5.

5B. DATA ON RATES OF IMMUNIZATION;

85% of children under 1 year old received DTP3, 83.5 % received OPV3, 86.4% MMR in 2004, and in 2003 the immunization coverage was as follows: DTP3: 76.6 %, OPV3:

76 % and MMR: 69.8 %.

5C. DATA ON RATES OF MALNUTRITION

Proportion of malnourished children by area, 2000

Area	Mild-Severe Chronic Malnutrition %	Mild-Severe Acute Malnutrition %
Urban	7.6	7.7
Rural	10.0	9.4
Interior	23.0	6.6

Source: MICS, 2000

According to studies carried out by the Bureau of Public Health in 1995 and 2003, more than half of the children hospitalized because of malnutrition, are younger than one (1) year. The remaining children are between 1 and 4 years old. Most of these children are of Maroon (44%), Creole (30%), Hindustani (12%), or Indigenous (7%) descent. The majority of the hospitalized children are from three areas of the country:

- Paramaribo South, an area known for socially deprived living conditions and a high level of families from the Interior

- The rural District of Para, and

- The District Marowijne in the Interior.

The same levels of boys and girls suffer from malnutrition.

5.D.1. DATA ON RATES OF EARLY PREGNANCY

According to a study by the Lobi Foundation, the number of abortions oscillates around 8,000 to 10,000 annually. It found that 34% of all women who registered for the family planning programme had undergone at least one abortion. Thirty-four (34%) of this group was younger than 20 years. This high abortion rate contributes to the high maternal Mortality rates. Generally speaking, contraceptive use in rural areas and the interior is low, as culturally; female fertility is considered very important. Contraceptive use among Maroon women is low (between 6 and 17%). On average, Maroon boys were found to become sexually active between 10 and 13 years, and girls between 13 and 15 years.

5.D.2. DATA ON RATES OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS

From 1997-2002 the number of children aged 0-5 with HIV/AIDS has almost tripled. Most children infected or affected by IV/AIDS end up in residential care facilities, with no policies in place to strengthen the capacity of families and the community to provide care and support to these children. AIDS has become one of the leading causes of mortality among children below five years of age. No data is available on the ratio of school attendance of AIDS orphans to school attendance of non-orphans aged 10-14 years. Newly infected young women are outnumbering newly infected young males.The gender distribution of new HIV+ cases has shifted over the years and since 2004 there are more females than males. In terms of age distribution, the highest registered prevalence is in the age-group 15-49 years. Sixty to eighty percent of the new cases are in this age group. According to preliminary 2005 data, the HIV prevalence in the age-group 15-24 years of pregnant women was 1.1%.

Number of new HIV cases by age and sex, 2004

5.D.3. DATA ON RATES OF DRUG, ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND OTHER SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Looking at the results of a survey conducted in 2004, we see that 74.3% of students have used alcohol in their lifetime, 35.4% of the students have smoked cigarettes, and 8.8% have used Tranquillizers in their lifetime. 8% have used an illegal substance in their lifetime.

50.9% of the students reported that they used alcohol during the 12 months prior to the survey. The corresponding rates for cigarettes, tranquilizers and illegal drugs are 15.4%, 5.7%, and 4.5% respectively. 47.6% of the students have used alcohol and 10% of the students have smoked cigarettes in the last 30 days. Marijuana and solvents and inhalants are the other drugs of concern. These results are of the second secondary school survey conducted in 2004 among the 2nd and 4th grade classes of the junior high schools and the second year of the senior high schools (public and private) in Suriname. In general, age range of the students is 13 -17 years.

5.D.4. RATES OF SUICIDE AND OTHER MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS

6A. DATA ON CHILD ABUSE REPORTED CASES

Number of reported child abuses cases

Year	Girls	Boys	Youngest victims	Youngest suspect
2003	152	12	2 years	10 years
2004	158	26	1 year	12 years
2005	212	30	1 year	4 years

6B. DATA ON NUMBER OF CHILDREN INVOLVED IN COURT DECISION INCLUDING PROSECUTIONS

Number and percentage of reports that have resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up, including prosecution:

Year	Type of crime	Crime reports	Suspects (boys and girls)	Suspect in pre-detention	Suspects who are prosecuted
2004	Sexual offences	81	105	-	46
2005	Sexual offences	174	225	169	123

Note: the victims of sexual crimes are mostly persons under the age of twelve years.

6C. DATA ON NUMBER AND PROPORTION OF CHILD VICTIMS THAT HAVE RECEIVED COUNSELING AND ASSISTANCE IN RECOVERY

In this regard there is information available from the foundation for the child (stichting voor het kind) that provides professional counseling to child victims of sexual abuse. The number of children per November 2006 is 20 in the age group 6 – 16 years. This does not mean however that these are all the cases. Sometimes child victims are also seeking help from other professionals and pay for this guidance.

7. DEFINITION OF POVERTY

The General Bureau of Statistics (GBS) utilizes the following definitions of poverty and poverty lines:

A unit (person, family or household) is considered to be poor when that unit does not have sufficient means to provide for its basic needs, in which the needs of food are of prime importance. The amounts of money that (given size and compositions of the unit) demarcate the poor from the non-poor are called poverty lines.

Poverty lines can be established in various ways, first and foremost there is the distinction between relative poverty lines and absolute poverty lines.

Relative poverty lines either use an arbitrary fraction of the lower portion of some distribution (e.g. lowest 10%, 20%, 25% or 40%) or a fraction of the arithmetic average or median income. The first approach is not very meaningful, because it implies that poverty cannot be eradicated and cannot be monitored adequately.

Absolute poverty lines have a major assumption that for certain society there exist acceptable subsistence levels, below which nobody ought to live.

Methodology

The GBS approach consists of 5 steps:

Basic Food Basket:

With the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute Software (CFIN) 28 items and 2400 Kcal per adult per day are chosen. De definition for adults used by GBS is 15 years and older, while children are defined as under 15 years.

From Basic Food Basket to Basic Needs Basket:

GBS uses an implicit method of moving from Basic Food basket to Basic Needs Basket, by employing democratically weighted Engel coefficients based on the Household Budget Surveys of 1968/1969 and 1999/2000.

Establishing/ using equivalence scales to reckon with differences in size of the household

Establishing the relevant poverty characteristics.:

The GBS has chosen the Pά measures(with Po, headcount index, P1 the Poverty- gap index and P2 the Poverty severity index) also called the FGT measures. Income is mainly used as welfare indicator, but were possible also consumption!

Updating Poverty lines:

In Suriname the poverty lines are updated with the Consumer Price Index (CPI)

Poverty lines by size and composition of the household 1st quarter 2006
Engel coeff=63
Adult/child	0	1	2	3	4
1	375	584	779	966	1146
2	674	865	1049	1229	1401
3	948	1131	1307	1476	1645
4	1210	1382	1555	1719	1884
		Amounts in SRD (Surinamese dollars)

7. DATA ON NUMBER OF CHILDREN LIVING BELOW THE POVERTY LINE

Due to its provision of social services and the fact that the recipients are qualified as poor, we can report the figures from the database of the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing for children who are receiving a health card and financial assistance.

Note: for health care the Medical Mission is active in the interior areas, meaning that for primary health care the persons in those areas don’t have to pay. The issuance of the health card for persons from the interior will be applicable if they need to be hospitalized.

Number of children per district for 2005 receiving health card/financial assistance

District	Health card	Financial assistance
Sipaliwini (interior: maroons and indigenous)	171	7.188
Brokopondo (interior: maroons and indigenous)	661	1.462
Paramaribo (urban)	12.063	575
Wanica (urban/rural)	6.025	344
Para (urban/rural)	2.164	181
Nickerie (urban/rural)	3.095	130
Coronie (rural)	56	13
Saramacca (rural)	1.329	103
Commewijne (rural)	1.287	86
Marowijne (rural/interior)	943	288

8A. DATA ON LITERACY RATES OF PERSONS UNDER AND OVER 18 YEARS

CHILDREN

Data not yet available.

8B. DATA REGARDING THE RATE OF ENROLMENT IN PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOLS, PRIMARY SCHOOLS AND IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

School year	Pre-primary 4-5 yrs	Primary 6-12	Secondary 12-16	Vocational secondary 12-16
	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F
2003					10.143	15.573	5.496	1.253
2004	8.202	8.012	31.523	30.563	10.524	15.872	4.506	773
2005	8.660	8.283	34.024	31.742	10.581	16.363	4.603	819

Pre-primary	Urban(Paramaribo)	Rural/Remote
School year	M	F	M	F
2003
2004	4.051	4.050	4.151	3.962
2005	4.149	3.950	4.511	4.333

Primary	Urban(Paramaribo)	Rural/Remote
School year	M	F	M	F
2003
2004	15.127	14.681	16.396	15.882
2005	15.256	15.030	18.768	16.712

Secondary	Urban(Paramaribo)	Rural
School year	M	F	M	F
2003	5.438	8.893	4.735	6.680
2004	5.602	9.373	4.922	6.499
2005	5.889	9.702	4.692	6.661

Vocational secondary	Urban(Paramaribo)	Rural/Remote
School year	M	F	M	F
2003	4.889	1.015	607	238
2004	3.863	583	643	197
2005	4.063	727	540	632

8C. DATA REGARDING THE PER RCENTAGE OF CHILDREN COMPLETING PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

School year	Primary	Secondary Mulo
2003	66.8%	59.5%
2004	72.9%	55.9%
2005	73.3%	54.1%

8D. DATA REGARDING THE NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF DROP-OUTS AND REPETITIONS NUMBER OF REPETITIONS 6 TH GRADE PRIMARY SCHOOL

School year	Number	Percentage
2003	1.618	10.6%
2004	1.682	18.6%
2005	2.000	21.9%

8E.DATA ON THE RATIO OF TEACHERS PER CHILD AND NUMBER OF CHILDREN PER CLASS

Type of school	2003/2004	rate	2004/2005	rate
	teachers	pupils		teachers	pupils
Pre-primary	704	16214	1:23	558	16943
Special schools	133
Primary	3240	62068	1:20	3240	65766	1:20
Secondary	1787	25829	1:15	1883	26149	1:14

Note: in practice the overall rate is 1:27 taking in consideration that not all the teachers registered are placed at a school.

8F. DATA ON NUMBER OF TECAHERS THAT ARE COMPLETING TRAINING

Data not yet available.

9. DATA ON DRUGS AND OTHER SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Drugs and other substances: *all data is for the year 2004

Tabel 9.1 Prevalence of substances used
Substance	Lifetime prevalence	One-year prevalence	One-month prevalence
%	N	%	N	%	N
Cigarettes	35.4	3,421	15.4	3,374	10	3,367
Alcohol	74.3	3,476	50.9	3,327	47.6	3,325
Tranquillizers	8.8	3,452	5.7	3,445	3.3	3,441
Stimulants	1.6	3,433	1.1	3,433	0.7	3,433
Solvents & Inhalants	3.9	3,410	2	3,405	0.9	3,395
Marijuana	4.3	3,410	2.5	3,404	1.1	3,393
Hashish	1.1	3,410	0.9	3,409	0.4	3,404
Hallucinogens	0.4	3,410	0.2	3,409	0.1	3,408
Heroin	0.3	3,410	0.2	3,409	0.1	3,407
Opium	0.3	3,410	0.2	3,410	0.1	3,410
Morphine	0.1	3,410	0.1	3,410	0	3,410
Cocaine HCL	0.3	3,410	0.1	3,409	0.1	3,408
Coca Pasta	0.2	3,410	0.1	3,408	0	3,407
Crack	0.3	3,410	0.2	3,409	0.1	3,407
Ecstacy	0.5	3,410	0.2	3,407	0.1	3,407
Methamphetamines	0.1	3,410	0.1	3,410	0.1	3,408
Other drugs	0	3,410	0	3,410	0	3,410
Any Illegal Drug	8	3,569	4.5	3,569	2.1	3,569

N = Total number of students responding to this question

Tabel 9.2 looks at the prevalence for “any illegal drug” by gender. It shows that the male students in general have higher prevalence of use than females. Females have lower one year and one month prevalence than males. A significant part of the completed questions on “any drug” were missing relevant data, in order to draw hard conclusions.

Tabel 9.2 Prevalence of use of any illegal drug among students, by gender
Gender	Life time	One year	One month
Females	4.6	2.2	0.8
Males	12.4	7.6	3.8
Total	8.0	4.5	2.1

Table 9.3 distinguishes use of “any illegal drug” by age groups. It shows that prevalence in the group of 15 – 16 years and the group of 17 – 18 years doubles that of the 12 – 14 year age group at all 3 stages of prevalence.

Table 9.3. Prevalence of use of any illegal drug among students, by age group
Age Group	Total
Lifetime	One-year	One month
12 - 14 yr	4.7	2.4	1.1
15 - 16 yr	9.0	4.8	2.3
17 - 18 yr	8.0	5.0	2.3
19 or older	10.6	6.2	2.9
No data	7.4	3.7	1.2
Total	8.0	4.5	2.1

Table 9.4. Prevalence of cigarettes use among students, by age group
Age group	Total	Female students	Male students
Lifetime	One-year	One-month	Lifetime	One-year	One-month	Lifetime	One-year	One-month
12 to 14	21.9	6.3	3.0	24.9	25.1	25.1	19.8	19.9	19.9
15 to 16	32.3	14.5	8.7	32.6	32.8	32.8	33.1	33.1	33.1
17 to 18	39.9	18.6	12.4	24.3	24.1	24.1	26.0	26.2	26.2
19 and older	51.8	23.9	17.8	17.5	17.4	17.3	20.6	20.4	20.5
No data	1.7	1.7	1.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.4	0.4
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Table 9.5. and Graph 1 show that the prevalence of alcohol use is higher in the higher age groups. There is a slight difference between the one-year and one-month prevalence, in total, or between female and male students.

Table 9.5. Prevalence of alcohol use among students, by age group
Age Group	All Students	Females	Males
Lifetime	One-year	One month	Lifetime	One-year	One month	Lifetime	One-year	One month
12 - 14 yr	62.5	38.5	33.2	60.2	36.4	31.4	66.2	41.9	36.1
15 - 16 yr	71.8	47.5	44.0	67.1	40.7	37.9	77.7	56.0	51.7
17 - 18 yr	80.4	58.4	55.7	76.1	50.8	48.4	85.8	68.2	64.9
19 or older	84.3	63.0	61.4	80.1	56.4	54.8	89.1	70.2	68.5
No data	78.7	43.9	42.1	71.4	36.4	27.3	100.0	57.1	57.1
All groups	74.3	50.9	47.6	69.9	44.7	41.6	79.9	59.2	55.4

10A. DATA ON NUMBER OF CHILDREN INFECTED WITH HIV/AIDS

Number of children tested HIV+ by gender by year 2003 - 2005

Age Group	2003	2004	2005
Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
0 – 4	9	15	24	14	14	28	15	14	29
5 – 14	1	1	2	1	1	2	0	1	1
15 – 19	2	18	20	2	15	17	1	16	17

As presented in the table, the average annual number of registered HIV+ children was around 40.

10B. DATA ON NUMBER OF CHILDREN AFFECTED BY HIV/AIDS

There is no data regarding numbers of children affected by HIV, but considering the fact that up to 2005 a cumulative number 3643 persons tested HIV+ and around 1000 adults died from AIDS during 1997 – 2005, children affected are the children who lost a family member due to AIDS or who are living with a family member with HIV.

10C. DATA ON NUMBER OF CHILDREN LEADING HOUSEHOLDS DUE TO HIV/AIDS

There is no data regarding children leading households due to HIV/AIDS, but it is estimated to be infrequent, since in Suriname extended families still tend to care for children who lost their parents and the authorities would take corrective action if it would be known that there is a child head of a household.

10D. DATA ON NUMBER OF ORPHANS OF HIV/AIDS LIVING IN EXTENDED FAMILIES OR INSTITUTIONS

There is no data regarding numbers of HIV/AIDS orphans living in extended families. There are 2 institutions that primarily deal with children infected with or affected by HIV/Aids in Suriname. The number of children per November 2006 in these institutions is 36 of which 22 girls and 14 boys. The age group varies from 1 – 17 years.

11A. NUMBER OF CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18 ALLEGEDLY COMMITTED A CRIME

Persons under the age of 18 who have allegedly committed a crime, reported to the police

Year	Girls	Boys
2003	72	254
2004	60	244
2005	55	256

11B. NUMBER OF CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18 CHARGED WITH A CRIME

Persons under the age of 18 who have been charged with a crime, the number sentenced and the type of punishment or sanctions related to offences, including length of deprivation of liberty

Data not yet available

11C. NUMBER OF DETENTION FACILITIES FOR PERSONS UNDER 18

The pre-detention facilities for the boys have 16 cells where 64 accused of a crime can

be placed. There are 4 or 6 stack beds in one cell and there is also a pot where the boys

can urinate at night. There are 4 toilets and a big bathroom with 3 or 4 taps. The girls who are in pre-detention have been placed with the adult women, because of the fact that there is no pre-detention facility for girls.

The boys who have been sentenced are being placed in the Juvenile Reformatory (Jeugd Opvoedings Gesticht) and the girls are being placed with the adult women in the “adult woman jail (Santo Boma). In the Juvenile Reformatory, 48 boys can be placed.

11E. DATA ON NUMBER OF PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 KEPT IN PRE-TRAIL DETENTION AND THE AVERAGE LENGTH OF THEIR DETENTION

Types of crimes	2003	2004	2005
Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys
Criminal offence against public order	5	34	4	46	1	24
Sexual offences	-	27	2	44	-	27
Economic offences	5	96	2	84	5	95
Traffic offences	-	-	-	-	-	-
Drugs offences	-	2	-	5	-	-
Other	-	1	-	-	-	-
Total	10	160	8	179	6	146

Note: The average length of the pre-detention is 4 months.

11F. REPORTED CASES OF ABUSE AND MALTREATMENT OF PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 THAT OCCURRED DURING THEIR ARREST AND DETENTION

There is no data available.

11G. PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 TRIED AND SENTENCED AS ADULTS

Types of crimes in the age 17-18 years tried and sentenced as adults:

Types of crimes	2003	2004	2005
Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys
Criminal offence against public order	5	45	7	48	-	25
Sexual offences	-	9	4	11	-	12
Economic offences	4	127	5	93	3	97
Traffic offences	-	-	-	-	-	-
Drugs offences	-	5	1	2	-	-
Other	-	1	-	2	-	-
Total	9	187	17	158	3	134

12 A. DATA ON NUMBER OF CHILDREN INVOLVED IN SEXUAL EXPLOITATION, INCLUDING PROSTITUTION, PORNOGRAPHY AND TRAFFICKING, AND NUMBER OF CHILDREN PROVIDED WITH ACCESS TO RECOVERY AND OTHER ASSISTANCE

Data from the Foundation Maxi Linder 2004-2005

Number of children involved with sexual exploitation

Age	Boys	Girls
12-16	4
7-16		6

12 B. DATA ON NUMBER OF CHILDREN INVOLVED IN SUBSTANCE ABUSE, AND THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO RECEIVED TRATMENT, RECOVERY AND REINTEGRATION ASSISTANCE

Overview of reported cases at the Bureau for Alcohol and Drugs2003

Age	Alcohol M - F	Tobac-co M - F	Alcohol in combi - nation withdrugs M - F	Mari-huana M - F	Cocaine M - F	Combi-nations of drugs M - F	Others M - F
10-12
13-15
16-20				20		2

Overview of reported cases at the Bureau for Alcohol and Drugs 2004

Age	Alcohol M - F	Tobac-co M - F	Alcohol in combina-tion with drugs M - F	Mari-huana M - F	Cocaine M - F	Combi-nations of drugs M - F	Others M- F
10-12						1
13-15
16-20				8

Overview of reported cases at the Bureau for Alcohol and Drugs 2005

Age	Alcohol M - F	Tobac-co M - F	Alcohol in combina-tion with drugs M - F	Mari-huana M - F	Cocaine M - F	Combi-nations of drugs M - F	Others M - F
13-16	2			5		1
17-20				4	3	3

12 C. DATA ON NUMBER OF CHILDREN INVOLVED IN CHILD LABOR (FORMAL AND INFORMAL SECTOR)

12 D. DATA ON NUMBER OF CHILDREN LIVING AND WORKING IN THE STREETS

The ministry of Labour, Technological Development and Environment has no updated statistical data for the years 2004 and 2005 on children involved in child labour in the formal and informal sector. For the years 2004 and 2005 it can be stated that there has been no detection of children working in companies or enterprises within the jurisdiction of the Labour Inspection (formal sector). In Suriname the age of 14 years (15 years on fishing vessels) is enforced for children to be allowed to the workforce. The Labour Inspection is the competent authority to determine whether child labour is being conducted in companies and enterprises and if employers apply to the age for employment by children as set forth in the Labour Act. There is no updated data available for the years 2004 and 2005 of children involved in child labour activities in the informal sector. The most recent data concerning this aspect can be derived from a rapid assessment research that was done in 2002 by a consultant in collaboration with the ILO Caribbean Office. In this research the following findings became evident:

1.it was stated that namely Maroon children were found in the interior, that were conducting activities which can be placed under the category worst forms of child labour;

2.although there have been reports about the exploitation of children in commercial sex, during this research there were no large number detected of children in prostitution or victims of sexual exploitation within the interior;

3.child labour and namely the severe forms has a gender bias. In the research 72% males and 28% females were interviewed and it became clear that 94% of the males were involved in the most severe forms of child labour;

4.child labour also has an ethnic bias because it became clear that young Maroons are most likely to be involved in activities considered to be the worst forms of child labour.

5.the lack of educational opportunities within the interior also encourages the existence of child labour.

There is no national data to support the claim of increasing numbers of children living and/or working in the street. In 2004, the Ministry of Justice and Police coordinated a project in collaboration with other ministries and institutions directly involved in the child labour situations. The main goal of this project was to keep children of the street andplacing them in institutions and homes in order to receive adequate counseling. In the period that the project of the ministry was executed (September 2004), 53 children were found on the street. Most of them were involved in labour activities namely selling of fruits & plastic bags. Note: the period the project was executed was during the school vacation. The outcome of this project however, made it evident that not only the measures towards combating this problem should be in place but the legislation as well as adequate help centers and institutes should also be in place.

In April 2006 Suriname ratified Convention no. 182 concerning the Elimination of the worst forms of child labour. In order to fully implement the provisions as set forth in this Convention, a multidisciplinary committee will be installed which should delineate a policy plan focused on the eradication of the worst forms of child labour. This committee also needs to develop a draft plan of action to combat and prevent child labour and should be able to provide support to NGOs and other groups within society that are implementing programmes focused on vulnerable groups such as women and children.

The ratification of Convention no. 138 concerning the minimum age of children, however, depends on the changes that will be made in the Compulsory Act as well as the Labour Act concerning the required age that should be used for prohibiting children to perform activities, which are harmful to their health and well being.

12D. DATA ON NUMBER OF CHILDREN BELONGING TO MINORITY OR INDIGENOUS GROUPS

Number of children living in the state party specify in ethnic (2004 census)

Ethnic	0-4 Male Female	5-6 Male Female	10-14 Male Female	15-19 Male Female
Amerindian	960 967	999 998	789 860	762 783
Maroons	6492 6315	5321 5171	4445 4436	3742 4167

PART 1

GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. UPDATE OF ANNEX 1

Refer to separate file with annex 1

2. HARMONIZATION OF NATIONAL LEGISLATION WITH THE CONVENTION

The following adjustments in the national have been realized:

- Adoption of the draft revision of the martial act (done in 1973), in June 2003, which means that there is no Asian Marital Act anymore and marriages take place only according the Suriname Civil Code with a legal minimum age is for boys 17 year and girls 15 year. In June 2003 the current marital legislation came into force. This act “Revision of Marital law 1973” was already approved by the Parliament at that time; however it did not came into force. With this legislation now in force (since June 2003) the Asian marriage act is cancelled. The Suriname Civil Code now only provides for the legal minimum age for marriage. The legal minimum age for marriage of boys is 17 years and girls 15 years. Since this act is outdated, the government appointeda commission to do an evaluation. In august of 2005 the commission presented its final report to the minister of Justice and Police. One of the recommendations in this report is to increase the minimum age of marriage to 18 years for both boys and girls. The recommendations of this report shall be taken into account along with the reviewing of the Suriname Civil Code where the marital law is provided for. The Institute for Social Science of the University of Suriname conducted a sociological and legal research on the marriage act. It was hired to do so by the Ilse Henar Hewitt Bureau for Women Rights. The results of this research were presented in July 2006. One of the outcomes of this research is that the legal minimum age for marriage should be increased to 18 years for both boys and girls. These results shall also be taken into account along with the reviewing of the Suriname Civil Code.

- Amendment of the Suriname Civil Code at the 7th of December 2002 regarding the right of children to be in contact with both parents (article 9 CRC). Due to this, children have the right to be in contact with both parents, especially in cases of divorce.

- Legislation regarding Trafficking in Persons (TiP): some adjustments had been made to the Penal Code regarding TiP. This act came into force in April 2006. In this act, a new article has replaced article 307 of the penal code where TiP is penalized. For trafficking in minors under the age of 16 there is an aggravation of penalty. The penalty for TiP is at least 8 years and for trafficking in minors under the age of 16 the penalty is at least 10 years.

The following bills have been drafted in 2005 and need approval:

- The bill for children to express their opinion: the bill that was previously prepared for children to be heard was providing only children over 12 to express their opinion. In 2005/2006 a working group on the initiative of the Ilse Henar Hewitt Bureau for Women Rights once again reviewed this bill and some adjustments have been made. The new bill states that in all matters concerning the child in particular matters concerning custody, legal provisions by the state to protect children, visitation after divorce and declare a major, the judge only decides after giving the child who is capable of forming his/her own views, the opportunity to express those views freely. Anyways the child by the age of 12 and older should be heard. The judge is obliged to hear children from the age of 12 and older while the hearing of children less than 12 years is optional.

- State decree on the establishment of the advisory board for child protection

- Law on childcare specifically for the age group 0 – 8 years (this Law is based on the draft Law of 1996 which aim is to regulate all types of child care facilities, including day care centers, children’s homes and alternative care institutions)

- Amendment of the Law on primary education of 1960

- Law on the registration of foster children

- Law on the regulation of kindergarten

- Standards and norms for care of children in the age group 0 – 8 years.

Other legislative reform initiatives currently undertaken are:

- The Penal Code: in 2005 a consultant has revised the penal code including juvenile justice. Inter alia the legal age for criminal responsibility is increased from 10 to 12 years, alternative sanctions/penalty is introduced and the age of sexual consent is increased. Article 297 of the Penal Code states that a person who has sexual intercourse with someone under the age of 14, will be punished with a sentence of 12 year. Furthermore article 298 of the Penal Code states that a person who has sexual intercourse with someone who reached the age of 14 but not 16, will be punished with a sentenced of 8 year, however prosecution of this offence is only possible (accept cases regarding article 301 and 304) if a complaint is filed. In 2006 a commission consisting of representatives/ professionals from the Bar, the University from Suriname, the Public Prosecutor, the High Court and the Legislative Department of the ministry of Justice and Police was appointed to take a second look at this revised penal code.

- The Suriname Civil Code: in October 2005 a commission consisting of representatives/ professionals from the Bar, Public notary, The University of Suriname and the Legislative Department of the ministry of Justice and Police was installed to review the civil code. It’s a 3-year project and the commission is on schedule with their tasks.

- Draft legislation regarding Domestic Violence: the bill for suppressing domestic violence is prepared on the initiative of the Women Rights Center ( NGO), this bill is also aiming to give children protection against domestic violence. According to article 2 of this bill a child is entitled/ competent to ask/request a protection order from the judge based on the fact that he’s a victim of domestic violence or when there is reason to presume that he’s to become a victim of domestic violence. The protection orders are based on civil law. Besides, the protection orders a victim can also request for (criminal) prosecution based on the penal code.

Further, the publication of the ILO convention no. 182 has taken place in 2004 in the Suriname Law Gazette no. 24 and was ratified on April 12, 2006 at the ILO headquarters in Geneva. Suriname now prepares the adjustment of the national labour law in relation to this convention.

With reference to the bills mentioned on the pages 21 & 22 of the first periodic report of the Republic of Suriname, the following can be said.

The bill prepared with regard to the introduction of a permit system for the establishment of a care providing institution has not been adopted yet. The Board of Ministers passed this bill in 1999 and its was submitted to the State Advisory Board. This Advisory Board had consultations with the ministry on the bill but did not finalize its advice. Furthermore, a second review of the bill within the ministry of Social Affairs & Housing, revealed that there were still aspects in this bill that needed to be elaborated e.g. not all forms of child care were incorporated, the transitional arrangements. In this regard the ministry again has taken the initiative in 2006 to evaluate this bill. This evaluation consists of a thorough consultation with the childcare institutions, the Federation of Private Social Institutions, the ministry of Health and Justice and Police and other stakeholders. Aside from the law it is also important to set standards and norms for the child care institutions having the care over children in the age group 9 – 18 years. The finalization of the bill is expected by the end of July 2007.

We can note that drafting legislation is a time consuming process and requests a lot of consultation. There are different views of stakeholders and in the end the ministry wants to have a bill that is endorsed by the fieldworkers since it regards their work. The commitment however has been set again and the Government will do its utmost to complete this task.

- The bill to regulate the social assistance for youth has not been approved yet. Over the time the changes in society demand that as much as possible all aspects are taken into consideration regarding this topic. The finalization of this bill is set for the 1st quarter of 2008.

3. STATUS OF COORDINATING INSTITUTIONS

- the national Child Rights Bureau

The Child Rights Bureau (CRB) was reactivated on June 25, 2001 as a department of the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing. The CRB was established in 1995 as the working arm of the national commission on the rights of the child. After the expiration of the term of the national commission in 1998 and the fact that the term was not extended, the CRB did not operate actively. Since it was necessary to have an institute to coordinate the implementation of the Convention, the CRB was reactivated.

The mandates of the CRB are:

Promotion of the Convention in whole community

Coordination/monitoring of the implementation of the Convention

Reference for all issues regarding children

Human resources: currently there are 4 persons working at the CRB with the expectation that 2 persons will be employed in the short period (a exemption from the Board of Ministers is still needed). In the past more persons were employed but they left the CRB for other job opportunities.

Financial resources: as said before, the CRB is a department of the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing, meaning that the Government covers personnel costs and administration costs. Furthermore the CRB executes projects with funds from UNICEF based on the programmes of cooperation between the Government of Suriname and UNICEF 1998 – 2002 and 2003 – 2007.

Strengths : when we look at the impact of the work of the CRB we see that the awareness in the community regarding child rights has increased. This can be based on the fact that many persons/organizations request more information on the Convention and that persons come to the CRB with complaints on child rights violations.

Weaknesses : currently not enough personnel to do the work.

the national commission on the rights of the child

After the ratification of the CCR in 1993, a national commission on the rights of the child was established in 1995. The first term fro membership of this national commission was 3 years (from 1995-1997) and the representation consisted of government officials and NGO’s. After expiration of the first term, no extension of the period took place.

A new Government coalition assumed office in 1997 and decided to establish a steering committee youth (“stuurgroep jeugdbeleid”). Since the Steering Committee was placed directly under the President and was chaired by the deputy minister of Social Affairs and Housing (the Ministry in charge of social and protective policy on youth), financial and human resources came from the Government budget.

Elections were held in 2000 and the “stuurgroep jeugdbeleid” was not continued.

In 2003, on the instigation of the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing, the appointment of new members for the national commission for the rights of the child was again discussed. This caused, however a lot of discussion. Who should they be, should it be government officials, what should be the qualifications, how independent should they be. All this discussion did not result in any appointment. The Government would like to receive clear criteria on who should be part of such a commission and what the qualifi-cations should be. The Government has set as its priority for 2007 to re activate the national commission for the rights of the child. The possibility of establishing an ombudsperson that will be the independent body with a mandate to monitor the implementation of the rights of children has also been planned. Such an independent institute will also have the mandate to receive and address complaints of violations of children’s rights.

As for other existing structures to coordinate the implementation of the CRC there are 2 government commissions namely:

- The national steering committee in which 7 ministries (Social Affairs and Housing, Justice and Police, Labour, Regional Development, Planning and Development Cooperation, Health and Education) and the UNICEF are represented which coordinate the implementation of projects funded by UNICEF to enhance the well being of children, all in relation to the implementation of the CRC. Most of the projects executed are in collaboration with civil society and youth- and community organizations. In some cases it is even the civil society organizations that take the lead in the implementation process.

- The commission “coordination implementation policy plan for children 2002 – 2006”: this commission has as its primary task to coordinate the implementation of the policy plan for children 2002 – 2006. In this commission, afore mentioned 7 ministries are also represented.

4. EXISTENCE AND MANDATE OF AN INDEPENDENT MONITORING MECHANISM

There is currently no independent monitoring mechanism on the monitoring of the implementation of the CRC or that can receive complaints on the violation of children’s rights.

5. EXISTENCE AND CONTENT OF THE NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY/NATIONAL POLICY PLAN FOR CHILDREN

national youth policy

The national youth policy formulated by the steering committee youth was implemented during the period that this committee was active. One of the most important aspects was the establishment of the national youth council and the national youth institute.

national policy plan for children 2002 – 2006

In 2001, a situation analysis on children was drafted in which the focus was laid on aspects such as: legislation, right for survival, health and nutrition, early childhood development, education, protection of children and participation. Based on the situation analysis, the most pressing aspects were identified and as a result a policy plan for children was prepared with 8 priority areas namely:

making children priority

legislation

health

education

early childhood development

protection of children against all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation

HIV/Aids

participation of children

For every priority area, activities were identified. The Government adopted the policy plan in April 2002. After adoption, an inter-ministerial committee was established to coordinate the implementation of the policy plan. The most relevant ministries such as Social Affairs and Housing, Justice and Police, Labour, Regional Development, Planning and Development Cooperation, Health and Education are represented in this commission. Every ministry was asked to take the lead in the implementation of the policy plan, with regard to the area for which they are mainly responsible. On yearly basis, the committee produces progress reports indicating which activities have already been initiated. As for the involvement of the civil society and other private organizations; when executing the named activities, collaborating with the civil society and private organizations is emphasized in order to have a successful implementation.

One of the aspects also stressed was, that in all possible collaborations and co-operations with donor organizations; the implementation of the policy plan was the framework. Since the period of the policy plan expires, the Government will make an assessment of the results that have been accomplished as well as the lessons learned due to the implementation of the policy plan for children 2002 – 2006. It is important to see what has been established and which areas need more intervening or which new problems have risen in the society that need intervention.

6. INFORMATION ON EFFORTS MADE TO PROVIDE TRAINING PROGRAMS ON AND AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS CARRIED OUT ON THE CONVENTION AND OTHER RELATED ISSUES FOR CHILDREN, PARENTS, TEACHERS, SOCIAL WORKERS, AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS WORKING WITH AND FOR CHILDREN

There have been various training sessions for the above-mentioned groups and they concentrated on aspects such as: the principles of the Convention in general, health care, early childhood development, basic life skills and education.

In this regard we can name the following:

- Training sessions organized by the CRB on the principles of the Convention for teachers, youth and personnel of judicial reformatory.

- Awareness campaigns by the CRB through media by using TV and radio spots but also folders and posters which are distributed in schools and other public places as well as the annual celebration of November 20th.

- Various training sessions by the basic life skills committee for parents, teachers, social workers, community organizations and health workers on the principles of basic life. The basic life skills program (BLS-program) is being propagated in CARICOM member states as an initiative of CARICOM and aims at developing skills, such as dealing with one’s own feelings, learning to say no to alcohol and drugs, etc. The main objective of the BLS-program is to strengthen youth to be able to choose a healthy lifestyle. The BLS-program will be introduced gradually in schools through the curricula currently being developed for the age group 9 – 14 years.

- In July 2006 the kick-off of the ECD awareness month took place. In this month the stakeholders of this program carried out awareness sessions for parents, teachers, care takers, social workers and others.

- KALBOBIS project: this is an in-service training project for three years for teachers and school principals. This project aims to enhance the chances for schoolchildren in the interior of Suriname. It consists of “on the job” training in three pilot schools (Goejaba, Pikin Slee en Dan). The focus is (a) the local context, (b) the parent participation and (c) revising and adjusting of the learning material/methods to the local area.

- Upgrading undergraduate teachers in the interior: this project consist of training for 177 teachers for Wayambo/Coppename, Boven-Saramacca, Brokopondo, East and West Para, Washabo/Apura and Santigron so that they are provided with skills to enhance their teaching capacity

- Educational school radio programs for the different cultural groups in the interior: this project is to support education in the interior and to get better school results.

- Parent participation: parent participation or involvement means that there is educational motivation among parents to contribute to better achievements in education. This is accomplishes by making use of parents for different activities in school. But parent participation can also be pedagogically motivated. The purpose then is to achieve better development of the children by harmonizing the educational actions of teachers and parents. Parent participation can also be socially motivated. The purpose then is to contribute to the internal and external democratization of education and society, by giving parents a say in setting aims, determining contents, and involving them in organization. In parent participation sessions the relationship between family factors and school achievement can be discussed since many factors and variables, such as characteristics of parents, influence the school career of children. Different studies carried out in this field have brought to light that the techniques of upbringing, the measure to which education is cherished by the parents, the expectations/aspirations of parents, language use, verbal interaction patterns in the family, the cultural-pedagogical level of the family, the socio-economic position, and housing, influence school results. These studies shave shown that there is a positive influence on student achievement when parents get more involved and interested in school. It is against this background that the Ministry of Education stimulates parents’ participation in the education sector.

- Efforts to ensure the implementation of laws, policies and programmes guaranteeing the principle of non-discrimination and full compliance with article 2 of the Convention, particularly as it relates to the vulnerable groups. Over the past years there have been various activities implemented by the National AIDS Program and NGO’s aimed at reduction of stigma & discrimination, and awareness raising of human rights within the context of HIV and AIDS. These include:

Implementation of a national awareness campaign with materials and messages aimed at health workers, schoolteachers, youth, children, the general public under the slogan “with or without HIV”. Some key messages: “with or without HIV, my students can count on me”; “with or without HIV, my patients will be treated with respect”; “with or without HIV, we remain friends”.

Training of over 1000 health workers to reduce stigma & discrimination

Development and implementation of a training package for caretakers of children with HIV

Human rights training for key actors in health, social services, and armed forces

The department Youth Affairs of the Police has implemented several training programmes and awareness campaigns, lectures for youngsters of selected neighborhoods and religious organizations.

- The department youth affairs of the Police have implemented several training programmes and awareness campaigns, lectures for youngsters of selected neighborhoods and religious organizations. The awareness campaigns have been presented at several schools. The content of the campaigns were about crime especially youth crime. It was also about the rights of children. Through a national television (STVS) the department youth affairs of the Police presented education programs about youth crime. In the program called “Youth Info”, juvenile delinquency and rights of children are brought into perspective, such as violence against children, child labour and economical exploitation of children.

Districts/ Resort	Year 2003	Year 2004	Year 2005
Target group	Target group	Target group
Albina	248 pupils (3 schools) and parents	-	-
Para	4 schools	-	1 school (educational weekend)
Paramaribo Noord	6 schools	-	-
Nickerie	5 schools	3 schools (200 pupils) and 69 parents	-
Saramacca	5 schools	-	-
Commewijne	4 schools	-	-
Paramaribo	10 schools	2 schools (175 pupils) and 36 other schools	-
Other	-	7 Lectures for Media/ Bureau Alcohol and Drugs and schools	2 children homes (120 children), 17 schools (awareness campaigns) and 3 lectures

- In 2005 the Police organized a basic youth and moral training for police officers included the youth officers of several regions and districts. In October 2006, teachers of the Dutch Police Academy and Surinam Police Academy gave a youth and moral training to detectives and the youth detectives. The purpose of this training was to enquire professionalism by police officers about youth and moral matters. The Military Police also participated in the training. The articles 37a and 40 sections 1 and 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child were properly discussed. The treatment and a child friendly hearing were also part of the training.

- The rights of the child are also a part of the curricula of the Surinam Police Academy.

- CRC promotion through peer education in school in the district Marowijne (interior).

- CRC awareness meetings with district team members in all resorts of Brokopondo (interior).

- CRC awareness meetings with the community in the following resorts of the district Sipaliwini: Tapanahony, Upper-Suriname and Upper-Saramacca (interior).

7. INDICATE THE ISSUES AFFECTING CHILDREN THAT THE STATE PARTY CONSIDERS TO BE PRIORITIES REQUIRING URGENT ATTENTION

- Continuous implementation of the BLS activities.

- Implementation of ECD policy and communication strategy

- Design and implement policy to strengthen families to enable them to deal with the responsibilities and prevent for example child neglect & abuse.

- Health care provision for children.

- Education for children, which a main focus on children in the interior.

- Implement policy regarding children with disabilities.

- Establishment of a national commission for child rights

- Establish child help line with strong referral system.

- Legislation reform in relation to the Convention.

PART III

1. NEW BILLS OR ENACTED LEGISLATION

We hereby refer to ad. 2 of part II

2. NEW INSTITUTIONS

We hereby refer to ad. 3 of part II

- In June 2005, the department for women and child policy was set up at the ministry of Justice and Police and shall be put into operation in December 2006. The tasks of this department will be:

to delineate a policy on the area of women and children;

to develop an action plan for women and child policy;

the coordination of women and child policy to all relevant departments within the Ministry of Justice and Police;

the intensive cooperation with other Ministries and NGO’s with women and

children as their target group;

-develop and expand international cooperations

be the focal point within the Ministry of Justice and Police for matters concerning women and children;

to coordinate the commitments arising from conventions regarding the Ministry of Justice and Police;

to see to the implementation of specific issues from the sector analysis Legal Protection and Security such as domestic violence;

to organize training for the target groups;

to organize awareness programs.

The establishment of the National Youth Parliament (NYP): one of the most important aims of the Convention is to increase the participation of the youth on policy and decision-making, regarding their issues. Years after Suriname adopted the Convention, our country became more aware of the urgent demands of the youth movement, and in 1999 it founded two National Youth Councils, for ages 12 to 17 and 18 - 30 respectively, each with 21 members. After 2002, the government created better working circumstances, conditions and legislations so that the youth was able to hold elections in all districts in 2004. After a few hearings of the directorate of youth affairs of the ministry of Education, the President of the Republic of Suriname ordered the States Resolutions 39 and 40. These resolutions included the installation of a National Youth Institute and the decree “Election of members of the National Youth Parliament”. On national level, elections were held to choose 29 parliamentarians for three years. Every youngster between 12 and 25 years had the right to choose their own representative. These elections of the 29 youth parliamentarians led to the creation of the first National Youth Parliament Suriname. On November 3rd of that year, the President of the Republic of Suriname installed the 29 representatives of the National Youth Parliament. The members are in the age between 15 and 25 years. The Youth Parliament has a chair, a deputy Chairman and an acting Chairman. There is also the National Advisory Board. In this board, the two CARICOM youth ambassadors of Suriname (the representatives of the Surinamese youth on regional level), also participate. Besides the 29 members of the National Youth Parliament, there are 63 youth districts council members. The youth district councils discuss issues at the district level with the youth of their own districts.

The most important task of this parliament is to represent the Surinamese youth on national, regional, and international level to address their issues. It’s also an important task to inform and advise the Suriname Government on measures to be taken with respect to the youth. The National Youth Parliament therefore held a number of small debates during the last months 2004 and prepared larger congresses in January 2005 and April 2006. The aim was to formulate proposals for the government.

The outcome of those meetings was that the youth decided to hold further discussions on four crucial topics/ priorities of the NYP, namely Education and Development; Sports and Recreation; Information; Social Welfare and Social Affairs.

The general aim of the national youth congress was to discuss all the matters of the mini congresses of the last year and put the outcome of these broad discussions into a policy paper. In this paper the board of the national youth congress formulated different proposals to the government and sent this paper to the minister of Education, who is politically responsible for youth affairs and to the President of the Republic of Suriname. Besides the proposals of the national youth congresses, the NYP forwarded several other proposals to policymakers namely proposal on suicide problem of the youth; proposal to increase the monthly study finance; proposal regarding housing for youth, proposal against tobacco use youth and recently proposals to urge the government to formulate policy in harmony with the Convention are a view to mention.

In good partnership with other strategic organizations in and out of Suriname, the NYP Suriname also created, monitored, implemented and evaluated different programs for and with the youth. Good to mention is the creation of the human Surinamese flag by 7.200 youngsters on the 30th Independence day of Suriname, the MDG promotion campaign with the UNDP, HIV/ Aids programs with the CARICOM youth ambassadors and others, and recently the project “strengthening of youth organizations” with the OAS.

The great challenges for this new institute is to force the government to invest more finance, expertise, and all needed support to further more work on the development and growth of the National Youth Institute. Another great challenge is to give more information and education of the National Youth Institute and to work to well organized elections in 2007.

- The CARICOM Youth Ambassadors Program (CYAP) was started in 1993, after the approval of the CARICOM Heads of States. In each member country has 2 (1 male and one female), CYA. Suriname had its first CYA in 2000.

The main objective of the CYAP is to raise awareness and knowledge of the Caribbean youth concerning CSME and CCJ. They work on national and local level to explain the purpose of these institutions and the opportunities and treats, which these institutions will present. The CYA’s represent the voice of the youth of Suriname in the CARICOM.

3. POLICIES, PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS

- The sector policy plan “Legal Protection and Security 2006-2010” of the Ministry of Justice and Police contains a separate policy area ‘gender, youth and moral (public decency)”. Issues within this area are: to develop youth-policy, suppress domestic violence, to develop moral policy, capacity building of departments (like the department youth affairs of the Police, the judicial child protection, the bureau for family and legal affairs) and to expand the national and international cooperation.

Pilot project “piket regeling minderjarigen”: in July 2004 the NGO “Lawyers Without Borders Netherlands (AdZG)” started the project “innovation juvenile justice in Suriname”. The goal of this project is to strengthen the legal status of juvenile suspects/offenders and by that harmonize it with national and international laws.

One of the most important sub-projects includes the immediate legal aid/assistance to the juvenile offenders in pre-trial detention that started on the 11th of July 2005 for the period of 1 year. To execute/elaborate this project a working group was established consisting of representatives of the public prosecutor, the youth affairs division of the Police, the Bar, the social legal care service, the AdZG and the ministry of Justice and Police. The purpose is to guarantee the immediate assignment of a lawyer to a juvenile offender. More than 20 lawyers were engaged in this project. The evaluation of this project is positive namely almost all juvenile offenders in pre-trial detention received immediate legal aid from a lawyer within 24 hours.

Action plan for children: in January 2004 the action plan for children of the Ministry of Justice and Police was formulated. This action plan consists of activities to implement the child policy within the ministry of Justice and Police. Some activities are ongoing:

The construction of the juvenile pre-trial detention facility (Opa Doeli). The construction started in April 2006 and the completion date is at the latest August 2007. Both boys and girls shall be placed in this facility. This facility shall consist all sections that are involved with Juvenile Justice so that the procedure of juvenile justice can work effectively.

The reviewing of the Suriname Penal Code and the Suriname Civil Code.

- The pilot project alternative sanctions for youngsters started on 16 November 2006 for the period of 1 year. The purpose of this project is to stimulate a permanent use of an alternative punishment for juvenile offenders. During this pilot there be experimenting with the community services and in a later phase the supervision orders will be introduced. The purpose of the project is to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. With this project incarceration of juvenile offenders will be the last measure as provided for in article 37b of the Child Rights Convention. The juvenile offenders will also be less threatened in their development.

- Project temporary supervision and temporary consignment (V.O.V)

Purpose: to promote a permanent use of appropriate provisions to protect children, who are threatened in their childhood development and are in need of immediate protection. Such provisions are: placing children under (temporary) supervision and (temporary) consignment to the state. These provisions are from a temporary nature because at the same time the families will receive (professional) guidance to improve the family environment so the children can return back. This is an institutional and structural approach of domestic violence against children and complies with the principles of the rights of the child (article 9 section 1 CRC). Achieving the objective will lead to a lesser use of provisions like taking away of parental rights and divest of parental authority (the ultimate provisions) that are frequently being used over the last 20 years, currently the project proposal is being written.

- A working group to implement a project about victim care has been installed by the Ministry of Justice and Police. The purpose of this project is a structural approach to or structural way to deal with victim care in the country.

The tasks of the working group are as follow:

To develop a policy regarding the assistance and care of;

To formulate legislation about victim care;

To formulate legislation how to compensate the lost of the victims;

To set up a unit for victim care.

- The development of the Suriname Education Plan in 2003 for the next 15 to 20 years. To develop this plan, several discussions and a national education congress were held in order to formulate the plan.

- The development of a sector plan for education 2004 – 2008 in 2004.

To formulate the afore-mentioned documents, the education objectives, the education structure, education accommodation, availability of learning materials, curricula, repetition and drop out problems have been analyzed.

Project currently being implemented in the education sector are:

Evaluation of the study finance for higher education in Suriname

Feasibility study to establish an institute to provide refresher course for teacher at secondary and tertiary level

Further training for school management of primary schools

Basic education improvement project: in this project the aim is to reform the basic education into a system of 9 – 10 school years; currently there is 2 years of kindergarten and 6 years of primary education. In this regard the current curricula will be evaluated and adjusted and teachers will be trained

LEARN (leerling en ervarinsggerichte aanpak van regulier nationaal basis-onderwijs) project: the aim of the project is to increase the school results of the children by concentrating more on the pupils and their capacity. Pilot is executed in 15 schools.

Education in the interior: building of a nucleus center; facilities will be built in order to let children form the different villages come to one place for schooling. The children will be placed in a boarding school. The centers will be built in one of the villages in the interior; KALBOBIS project: is a 3-year project that provides in service training for teachers and school management “on the job” in 3 pilot schools in the interior. The focus is laid on the local context, the involvement of parents and the adjustment of learning materials; Building of 3 boarding schools in the interior: in order to provide secondary education in the interior it is necessary to have facilities for the children where they can stay over; upgrading undergraduate teachers in interior: schooling of 177 teachers in the interior; educational school radio programmes for the different culture groups in the interior; creating more child friendly primary schools in the interior (21 schools); over 100 teachers will be trained in new skills based on child friendly approach in the education process.

Develop policy for special education (aiming at an inclusive approach based on the “inclusive approach of the world conference on special needs education, Spain 1994”.

Setting up a hotel and tourism training center in order to increase training possibilities for young people

Collaboration between the ministry and NGO’s in order to increase adult education for drop outs to get vocational training

- Formulation of an ECD policy plan and communication strategy; needs to be implemented.

- Assessment of the availability of community based ECD services for hard to reach population in the district of Sipaliwini (interior) finalized; based on the results there will be an action plan developed to have these facilities available.

- Research in 2005/2006 again in the interior areas (Sipaliwini district) showed that birth registration is not optimal. The government together with NGO’s actives in this area has set up awareness campaign to inform the communities about the need for birth registration. Booklets have also been produced for the health workers and the civil registry bureaus in order for them to mobilize the communities to register.

- Formulation of sector plan for health 2004-2008, which is currently implemented and has as its objective: to guarantee integrated, effective and quality health care for everyone”. The specific targets mainly for children are:

- Reduction of infant mortality from 19.2 in 2004 to 7 in 2015

Reduction of child mortality from 24.5 in 2004 to 10 in 2015

Reduction of maternal mortality from 85 in 2004 to 50 in 2015

Vaccination coverage from 85% in 2004 to 100% in 2015

- Introduction of the Integrated Management of Maternal and Child Health (IMMCH) strategy’ within the Health System; this strategy will contribute to the mainstreaming of mother and childcare in national programmes and standardization and implementation of updated norms and protocols for mother and childcare in general (this also incorporates the breastfeeding policy).

- A sexual and reproductive policy has been formulated and needs approval from the Board of Ministers; after approval an implementation plan for maternal care will be developed.

- Currently, efforts are made to improve the ‘National Health Information System’, which must result in improved data gathering.

- The approval by the Board of Ministers of the National Strategic Plan HIV/AIDS 2004-2008; specific targets are:

25% reduction of all new HIV infections in the age group 15-24 years

25% reduction of all HIV-positive pregnant women

- The ministry of Health is currently implementing the ‘Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission’ programme; she is also developing special prevention programmes for young people in the age group 10 –19 years.

- Working group has been installed to adjust the current growth and development chart; 2 persons from the working group have been trained through the WHO in the use of international growth chart. The health workers need to be trained in the use of them.

- In order to guarantee health care in the interior areas, the Medical Mission is the biggest provider for primary health care. In the interior another project is also on going namely the support of delivery of outreach health and nutrition services in communities through training of village health promoters.

- Child suicide: an inter-ministerial commission was installed to analyze this problem and provide policy interventions.

- The execution of a survey in some areas (urban/rural and interior) on the availability of youth friendly health services for young people. The survey also assessed sexual behavior of young people and the use of contraception.

- Baseline malaria assessment to access data for the “rolling back malaria” project in Suriname.

- Health and nutrition promotion in order to enhance rolling back malaria in Surinameand to improve the health of children and women in Marowijne (interior).

- Study on the prevalence of anemia in Moengo and surrounding villages to improve the health of women and children in Marowijne.

- Situation analyses (sitan) on women and children in the district of Brokopondo, Nickerie, Sipaliwini and Marowijne; the sitan describe the situation of children with regard to social development and poverty, health and survival, early childhood development, basic education, protection and participation. Based on these analysis action plans were formulated which are gradually being implemented.

- Establishing school health clubs at 6 primary schools in resort Tapanahony in district Sipaliwini (interior). Children participating in this activity are until the age of 16 years. The aim is to inform the children about health issues and healthy life styles so that they can inform other children in the villages (peer education); a documentary will be made about the functioning of the health clubs, posters will be developed, a song that the children themselves composed will be made public.

- Research was conducted in the 2 urban districts (Paramaribo/Wanica) on the incidence of street children and the causes why children are on the streets. It was not possible to give an actual number of children working if living in the streets. The children were identified through institutions (children who were once on the street and are now living in institutions) and some were identified on the streets. The research showed that during certain periods of times the children were on the streets doing economic activities (selling fruits etc). Some children were wandering because they were afraid to go home because they were often beaten or had bad school results. Overall it is seen that the children being on the streets come from households that have one parent and have low income. Based on the results of the research, discussions will be held with relevant stakeholders to identify what measures should be taken.

- The strategic plan formulated by the child abuse prevention network was finalized and preparations were made to start implementation. As a first activity the establishment of a child help was initiated. This child help line will be operating as a foundation associated to the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing. The ministry will employ the personnel of this line. There will be counselors working at this line so that they immediately can provide guidance to the children or refer the case to specific experts. The help line will be a telephone line. The help line is due to be operational by the end of 2007.

- The preparation of a project based on a cooperation between the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing and the Salvation Army with the aim to place children back with their families. 4 institutions have been identified for the first phase; consultations were held with mothers to identify whether they want to take care of their children, who they have placed in institutions because of economic problems, if they are receiving guidance. The idea is to let social workers (who are trained as family coaches), provided by the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing, guide the mothers to become more self assured; the collaboration with the women business group has also been established; this NGO will guide the mothers if they want vocational training such as baking, sewing etc. this base on the economic empowerment. Further there are still discussions ongoing with an NGO to provide housing for the mothers, so that they can rent at a reduced tariff.

- The ministry of Social Affairs and Housing is working out a plan to strengthen its division for youth care so that they can provide more professional help to the clients they receive. The idea is also to recruit more social workers for this division since the current capacity cannot handle the caseload.

- The ministry of Social Affairs and Housing is also working out a plan to expand the shelter possibilities for boys with behavioral problems and strengthen the capacity of the group workers. Further developments concern the bettering of the guidance plan for the boys.

- The development of a policy plan for people with disabilities 2005 – 2009.

PART III

B. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. UPDATE ANNEX I 2002-2006

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUMMARY SURINAME FOLLOW-UP

Committee recommendations	Update 2002-2006 follow-up action
The Committee recommends that the State party take all appropriate measures to ensure that its laws conform fully to the principles and provisions of the Convention. The Committee also encourages the State party to consider the possibility of enacting a comprehensive code for children. The State party is encouraged to take all appropriate measures to adopt, at the earliest opportunity, the additional draft legislation. The Committee recommends that the State party seek technical assistance from, inter alia , the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.	The Government has taken measures to adjust its national legislation to the principles of the CRC. For this we can name the following: - Revision of the martial act from 1973: in June 2003 the current marital legislation came into force. This act “Revision of Marital law 1973” was already approved by the Parliament at that time; however it did not came into force. With this legislation now enacted (since June 2003) the Asian marriage act is cancelled. The Suriname Civil Code now only provides for the legal minimum age for marriage. The legal minimum age for marriage of boys is 17 years and girls 15 years. - Amendment of the Suriname Civil Code at the 7th of December 2002 regarding the right of children to be in contact with both parents (article 9 CRC). Due to this, children have the right to be in contact with both parents, especially in cases of divorce. - Legislation regarding Trafficking in Persons (TIP): some adjustments had been made to the Penal Code regarding TIP. This act came into force in April 2006. In this act, a new article has replaced article 307 of the penal code where TIP is penalized. For trafficking in minors under the age of 16 there is an aggravation of penalty. The penalty for TIP is at least 8 years and for trafficking in minors under the age of 16 the penalty is at least 10 years. - The publication of the ILO convention no. 182 has taken place in 2004 in the Suriname Law Gazette no. 24 and was ratified on April 12, 2006 at the ILO headquarters in Geneva. Suriname now prepares the adjustment of the national labour law in relation to this convention. - Draft State decree on the establishment of the advisory board for child protection; needs approval - Draft Law on child care specifically for the age group 0 – 8 years (this Law is based on the draft Law of 1996 which aim is to regulate all types of child care facilities, including day care centers, children’s homes and alternative care institutions); needs approval - Draft Amendment of the Law on primary education of 1960; needs approval - Draft Law on the registration of foster children; need approval - Draft Law on the regulation of kindergarten; needs approval - Draft standards and norms for care of children in the age group 0 – 8 years; needs approval - The bill for children to express their opinion: the bill that was previously prepared for children to be heard was providing only children over 12 to express their opinion. In 2005/2006 a working group on the initiative of the Ilse Henar Hewitt Bureau for Women Rights once again reviewed this bill and some adjustments have been made. The new bill states that in all matters concerning the child in particular matters concerning custody, legal provisions by the state to protect children, visitation after divorce and declare a major, the judge only decides after giving the child the opportunity/chance to express his views. Anyways the child by the age of 12 and older should be heard period. The judge is obliged/imposed to hear children from the age of 12 and older while the hearing of children less than 12 years is optional. - The Penal Code: in 2005 a consultant has revised the penal code including juvenile justice. Inter alia the legal age for criminal responsibility is increased from 10 to 12 years, alternative sanctions/penalty is introduced and the age of sexual consent is increased from 12 years to 14 years. In 2006 a commission consisting of representatives/ professionals from the Bar, the University from Suriname, the Public Prosecutor, the High Court and the Legislative Department of the ministry of Justice and Police was appointed to take a second look at this revised penal code. - The Suriname Civil Code: in October 2005 a commission consisting of representatives/ professionals from the Bar, Public notary, The University of Suriname and the Legislative Department of the ministry of Justice and Police was installed to review the civil code. It’s a 3-year project and the commission is on schedule with their tasks. - Draft legislation regarding Domestic Violence: the bill for suppressing domestic violence is prepared on the initiative of the Women Rights Center (an NGO), this bill is also aiming to give children protection against domestic violence. According to article 2 of this bill a child is entitled/ competent to ask/request a protection order from the judge based on the fact that he’s a victim of domestic violence or when there is reason to presume that he’s to become a victim of domestic violence. The protection orders are based on civil law. Besides, the protection orders a victim can also request for (criminal) prosecution based on the penal code. Enactment of a comprehensive code for children has not been discussed. When the adoption of the draft legislation can be taken into consideration, we see that many have not been adopted yet. This is due to the fact that during consultations there are many different views, which are sometimes difficult to incorporate. Further the necessary advises are not given promptly with the consequence that the draft are not being able to be adopted.
The Committee recommends that the State party take all appropriate measures to strengthen coordination, including at the local level and with NGOs, and to monitor progress of the implementation of the Convention through the expansion of an existing governmental mechanism or the establish a new one with adequate powers, functions and resources. The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen the Steering Committee on Youth by, inter alia , allocating adequate financial and human resources.	- Establishment of the Child Rights Bureau in June 2001, who principally has to oversee the implementation of the CRC. Preparations for appointing of new members for the National Committee on the Rights of the Child are made. - Establishment of the Suriname Youth Parliament, in which 29 members have taken seat - Through the ministry of Regional Development, the initiative has been taken to mobilize a team at the District Commissioner’s who enhances the development of project aiming at the well being of children. However not in all districts such teams are active, there are some that implement project in relation with the ministry - Establishment of the Basic Life Skills Commission, which promotes the principles of strengthening young people with life skills. This commission is undertaking the plan to establish commissions in the districts so that the expansions of the principles can take place. Up till now 2 districts have a commission. - Establishment of the Early Child Development (ECD) commission which main task is to develop policy and programmes for the implementation of ECD in Suriname. - The existence of a working group (government) with regard to the coordination and implementation of the policy plan for children 2002 – 2006. This working group is also coordinating the implementation of the programme cooperation between the Government and UNICEF. The Steering Committee was not maintained after the elections in 2000, due to a different view of the ruling coalition party.
The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to establish a central registry for data collection and introduce a comprehensive system of data collection incorporating all the areas covered by the Convention. Such a system should cover all children up to the age of 18 years, with specific emphasis on those who are particularly vulnerable, including children living in the interior of the country, especially those belonging to Amerindian and Maroon communities; children with disabilities; children living in poverty; children in conflict with the law; children of single ‑parent families; sexually abused children; and children living and/or working on the streets. In this context, the Committee recommends that the State party seek technical assistance from, inter alia , the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF.	- Initiation of the Child Indicators Monitoring System (CIMS) and yearly publication of the data in the statistical yearbook issued by the General Bureau of Statistic. This tool is the actual tool recommended by UNICEF to monitor the different indicators regarding children. The relevant ministries/NGO’s participate in this project and slowly are working on the improvement of gathering data. - The Children in Need of Special Protection (CNSP) monitoring system which currently gathers data of children living in institutions. - MICS III survey 2006 (Multiple Indicators Cluster System) that will be finalized in January 2007. - Development of an information system at the ministry of Social Affairs and Housing (SoZaVo Informatie Systeem) to capture all data on the social provisions that are provided by the ministry. This regards especially provisions for poor people. - ELVIS project (electronic pupils information system): the aim is to have all data on children in schools available. The project is currently being implemented. - Currently, efforts are made to improve the ‘National Health Information System’, which must result in improved data gathering.
The Committee recommends that an independent child-friendly mechanism be made accessible to children to deal with complaints of violations of their rights and to provide remedies for such violations. The Committee further suggests that the State party introduce an awareness raising campaign to facilitate the effective use by children of such a mechanism.	Preparations for establishment of children’s help line (Kinder- en Jeugd Telefoonlijn) are undertaken.
In light of articles 2, 3, and 6 of the Convention, the Committee encourages the State party to pay particular attention to the full implementation of article 4 of the Convention by prioritizing budgetary allocations to ensure implementation of the economic, social and cultural rights of children, to the maximum extent of available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international cooperation. In allocating resources, the State party should pay particular attention to districts in the interior and ensure that the inequalities in service provision in these parts of the country are not perpetuated.	The Government is allocating funds from its own budget to implement policies for children e.g. health care, education and social provisions. Furthermore the Government also initiates cooperation’s with donor agencies such as the UNICEF, the IDB, and the Netherlands etc. Projects implemented with these funds target all children in Suriname.
The Committee recommends that greater effort be made to ensure that the provisions of the Convention are widely known and understood by adults and children alike. In this regard, the Committee recommends the reinforcement of adequate and systematic training and/or sensitization of professional groups working with and for children, such as judges; lawyers; law enforcement personnel; teachers; school administrators; health personnel, including psychologists and social workers; and personnel of child-care institutions. The Committee recommends that the State party seek to ensure that the Convention is fully integrated into the curricula at all levels of the educational system. The State party is encouraged to translate the Convention into local languages and to promote its principles through, inter alia , the use of traditional methods of communication. In this regard, the Committee further suggests that the State party seek technical assistance from, inter alia , the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNICEF.	- Throughout the years the Government and NGO’s have concentrated highly on the development and distribution of CRC materials, which include TV and radio spots, protection songs, posters, folders, calendars, CRC card game, booklets which are used in health care facilities, schools and other public places. - Development of short CRC trainings by the Child Rights Bureau for teacher, government officials and social workers. - Implementation of an academic CRC training by the Institute for the Rights of the Child at the University of Suriname in 2003. - Development of basic life skills curricula to used in primary schools. - Training in basic life skills for teachers, parents, personnel child care institutions, government personnel, private sector. - The Child Rights Bureau concentrating on forms of child abuse developed a lesson plan for schools. - Training course in ECD for people working in this field organized by the Institute for the Rights of the Child at the University of Suriname in 2006. - The annual celebration of November 20th as to be the day for the rights of the child. - Development of a curricula and training manual on child and women’s rights for the journalism course at the Academy for Higher Art and Culture Education. - The broadcast of news (Weekkrant & 10 minuten jeugdjournaal) in which children’s situation are highlighted; mainly which issues regard them and what effect developments in the community have on them. - The Children’s Film Festival held in December in where movies about the situation of children and their rights are shown; projects are also initiated to show these movies in the districts and interior areas. Further children are also able to learn how to make music, short films and computer-animated films. - Project “Child in Focus”: 10 TV and 10 radio programmes were developed and broadcasted with different topics from the CRC by the Child Rights Bureau in 2004 - Project “Voices of Youth”: children from different districts were involved in group discussion regarding youth participation. The way what they think about it and what their experience are.
The Committee recommends that the State party raise the legal age for criminal responsibility to a more internationally acceptable age, by reviewing its legislation in this regard.	In the draft revision of the Suriname Penal Code, the legal age for criminal responsibility is 12 years.
The Committee recommends that the State party review its legislation relating to the legal ages for marriage to bring it into conformity with the provisions of the Convention and to ensure non-discrimination. It is recommended that the State party take all appropriate measures to raise awareness about the harmful effects of early and forced marriages, particularly as regards girls.	The Martial act of 1973 was revised in June 2003 which means that there is no Asian Marital Act anymore and marriages take place only according the Suriname Civil Code with a legal minimum age is for boys 17 year and girls 15 year. The ministry of Justice and Police installed a commission to further look into the needed adjustments of the Marital act. This commission will work in close collaboration with the commission installed in 2005 to revise the Suriname Civil Code.
The Committee recommends that the State party increase the legal maximum age for compulsory education from 12 to at least 14 years to guarantee the rights of those children between the ages of 12-14 years, who are beyond the age of compulsory education, but too young to be legally employed.	Completion of review on implications of discrepancies between legal maximum age for compulsory education and age to be legally employed by Child Rights Bureau in 2002. Adjustment of the age has been incorporated in the draft amendment of the Law on primary education of 1960, namely that the minimum age for schooling is 4 years and the maximum age is 14 years. The draft needs approval. Social marketing on the new basic education cycle: redesign curriculum for basic education (in principle grades 1 to 10): consolidation of primary and junior secondary levels into a 10-year basic education.
The Committee recommends that the State party increase its efforts to ensure the implementation of laws, policies and programmes guaranteeing the principle of non ‑discrimination and full compliance with article 2 of the Convention, particularly as it relates to the vulnerable groups.	The Constitution provides the principle that no person should be discriminated. This principle is implemented throughout all interventions that are initiated especially in programmes and policies. Regarding legislation there is need for more research on discriminating regulations towards children.
The Committee recommends that the State party take all appropriate measures to ensure that the general principle of the best interests of the child is appropriately integrated in all legal provisions as well as in judicial and administrative decisions and in projects, programmes and services which have an impact on children.	- The drafting of legislation in the past period focused on guaranteeing the best interest of the child. - The development of a national policy plan for children 2002-2006. - The Government will initiate the development of a national policy plan for children 2007-2011; this plan will be based on the existing policy plans but there is a need to also identify which areas have not been addressed adequately enough.
The Committee recommends that the State party review and expand the scope of the Bill referred to in the previous paragraph; develop a systematic approach to increasing public awareness of the participatory rights of children; and encourage respect for the views of the child within the family; communities; schools; and care, administrative and judicial systems.	- Project “Child in Focus” 10 TV and 10 radio programme were developed and broadcasted with different topics from the CRC by the Child Rights Bureau in 2004 - Project “Voices of Youth” by the Child Rights Bureau. Children from different districts were involved in group discussion regarding youth participation. The way what they think about it and what their experience are. - The activities implemented by teh National Youth poarliament and the CARICOm youth ambassadors. - The activites of the basic bife skills commission to traing young people in BLS and for them again to train other children - School health club project wehere children in the interior are trained in promoting helathly life styles so that they can train or raise awareness among other young people. - The drafting of legislation that children can express their opinion. - The broadcast of news (Weekkrant & 10 minuten jeugdjournaal) in which children’s situation are highlighted; mainly which issues regard them and what effect developments in the community have on them. - The Children’s Film Festival held in December in where movies about the situation of children and their rights are shown; projects are also initiated to show these movies in the districts and interior areas. Further children are also able to learn how to make music, short films and computer-animated films.
In light of articles 7 and 8 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State Party undertake appropriate measures, including awareness raising among government officers, community and religious leaders, and parents themselves, to ensure that all children are registered at birth.	Research in 2005/2006 again in the interior areas (Sipaliwini district) showed that birth registration is not optimal. The government together with NGO’s actives in this area has set up awareness campaign to inform the communities about the need for birth registration. Booklets have also been produced for the health workers and the civil registry bureaus in order for them to mobilize the communities to register.
The Committee recommends that all appropriate measures be taken to fully implement the provisions of article 37(a) and 39 of the Convention. In this regard, the Committee further recommends that greater efforts be made to prevent police brutality and ensure that child victims are provided adequate treatment to facilitate their physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration and that perpetrators are sanctioned.	- Establishment of the Child Abuse Prevention Network with police as participating agency, to agree on treatment of child victims and to develop national capacity to adequately deal with child victims - Development of the strategic plan of action by the Child Abuse Prevention Network - Training for social workers, teachers, children and prison guards in the Juvenile Reformatory by the Child Rights Bureau in collaboration with the division Judicial Child Protection of the ministry of Justice and Police to make them aware of the child rights and how to deal with the different cases - In 2005 the Police organized a basic youth and moral training for police officers included the youth officers of several regions and districts. In October 2006, teachers of the Dutch Police Academy and Surinam Police Academy gave a youth and moral training to detectives and the youth detectives. The purpose of this training was to enquire professionalism by police officers about youth and moral matters. The Military Police also participated in the training. The articles 37a and 40 sections 1 and 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child were properly discussed. The treatment and a child friendly hearing were also part of the training. - The rights of the child are also a part of the curricula of the Surinam Police Academy.
The Committee recommends the State party to expedite as much as possible the passing of the Bill mentioned in the above paragraph (32) and to establish a code of standards to ensure adequate care and protection of children deprived of a family environment. It further recommends that the State party provide additional training, including in children’s rights, for social and welfare workers, ensure the periodic review of placements in institutions and establish an independent complaints mechanism for children in alternative care institutions.	The draft has not been approved. The advise of the State Advisory Board was not completed. Further, stakeholders in the field still had some remarks about definitions in the bill. The standards for childcare were also not developed. In 2005, the standards for child care of children in the age group 0 – 8 years was finalized and needs approval. In 2006, the Government has taken the step again to discuss the bill with stakeholders and develop standards. As for training for personnel of child care institutions, this has been initiated e.g. basic life skills training. The establishment of a independent mechanism has not been realized.
The Committee recommends that the State party undertake measures to ensure the effective monitoring and follow-up of placements in the foster care programme; introduce programmes to raise awareness and promote foster care; and to undertake measures to regulate the “kweekjes system” in order to ensure that the best interests of the children concerned are taken into account. Additionally, the Committee encourages the State party to consider the possibility of acceding to the Hague Convention of 1993 on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.	Legislation has been drafted on foster care in 2005, needs approval. The foundation for foster care is currently developing a project to recruit more foster families. When revising the Suriname Civil Code, the accession to the Hague convention will also be taken into consideration.
In light of article 19, the Committee recommends that the State party undertake studies on domestic violence, ill treatment and abuse (including sexual abuse within the family) in order to adopt adequate policy measures and contribute to changing traditional attitudes. The Committee recommends that all appropriate measures be taken to introduce mandatory reporting of abuse, including sexual abuse of children. It also recommends that cases of domestic violence, ill treatment and abuse of children be properly investigated within a child-friendly judicial procedure and sanctions applied to perpetrators including treatment, with due regard given to protecting the right to privacy of the child. Measures should also be taken to ensure the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of victims in accordance with article 39 of the Convention, and the prevention of criminalization and stigmatization of victims. The Committee recommends that the State party seek technical assistance from, inter alia , UNICEF.	- Completion of the study on violence against children in the district of Para and the way reporting of these cases has taken place. - Completion of the research on corporal punishment at the primary school in 3 districts Paramaribo, Nickerie and Marowijne. - Analysis of the works and needs of the organizations that deal with children who are victims of violence. - Development of the strategic plan of action by the Child Abuse Prevention Network. - Revision of the Suriname Penal Code and take into consideration the guarantee of child friendly procedures.
The Committee recommends that the State party take legislative measures to prohibit all forms of physical and mental violence, including corporal punishment within the family, schools and care institutions. The Committee encourages the State party to intensify its public awareness campaigns to promote positive, non-violent forms of discipline as an alternative to corporal punishment at all levels of society.	- National Youth Congress in 2003 on violence against children by the Child Rights Bureau. - Public awareness campaign regarding the harms of violence against children (2002). - Proclamation of April as national child abuse prevention month since 2002. - Development of lesson planin 2003for teacher from the primary and secondary school regarding violence and abuse (how to be recognized and to deal with it). - A manifestation was organized in 2003 to get attention from the policymakers to discuss child abuse issues and to identify concrete actions to stop child abuse. - Training for teachers on basic life skills so that they can use other methods of disciplining in schools; this was also done for some childcare institutions. - There is however no legislation prepared.
The Committee recommends that the State party allocate appropriate resources and develop comprehensive policies and programmes to improve the health situation of children, especially those living in the interior; facilitate greater access to primary health services; increase the number of trained medical and other health personnel; reduce the incidence of maternal, child and infant mortality; improve breast feeding and weaning practices; prevent and combat malnutrition, especially in vulnerable and disadvantaged groups of children; increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation; and reduce the incidence of malaria. It is recommended that the State party undertake a study on child suicides and accidents with the view to understanding the nature and scope and implementing appropriate preventative policies and measures. Additionally, the Committee encourages the State party to consider technical assistance for the Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses and other measures for child health improvement from, inter alia , UNICEF and the World Health Organization.	In the past periods, the following policies have been developed: - Formulation of sector plan for health 2004-2008, which is currently implemented and has as its objective: to guarantee integrated, effective and quality health care for everyone”. The specific targets mainly for children are: - Reduction of infant mortality from 19.2 in 2004 to 7 in 2015 Reduction of child mortality from 24.5 in 2004 to 10 in 2015 Reduction of maternal mortality from 85 in 2004 to 50 in 2015 Vaccination coverage from 85% in 2004 to 100% in 2015 - Introduction of the Integrated Management of Maternal and Child Health (IMMCH) strategy’ within the Health System; this strategy will contribute to the mainstreaming of mother and childcare in national programmes and standardization and implementation of updated norms and protocols for mother and childcare in general (this also incorporates the breastfeeding policy). - A sexual and reproductive policy has been formulated, which needs approval by the Board of Ministers; after approval an implementation plan for maternal care will be developed - Currently, efforts are made to improve the ‘National Health Information System’, which must result in improved data gathering. - The approval by the Board of Ministers of the National Strategic Plan HIV/AIDS 2004-2008; specific targets are: 25% reduction of all new HIV infections in the age group 15-24 years 25% reduction of all HIV-positive pregnant women - The ministry of Health is currently implementing the ‘Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission’ programme; she is also developing special prevention programmes for young people in the age group 10 –19 years. - Working group has been installed to adjust the current growth and development chart; 2 persons from the working group have been trained through the WHO in the use of international growth chart. The health workers need to be trained in the use of them. - In order to guarantee health care in tyhe interior areas, the Medical Mission is the biggets provider for primary helath care. In the interior another project is also on going namely the support of delivery of outreach health and nutrition serviveces in communities through training of village health promoters. - Child suicide: a inter-ministerial commission was installed to analyze this problem and provide policy interventions.
The Committee recommends that the State party increase its efforts in promoting adolescent health policies and counseling services as well as strengthening reproductive health education, including the promotion of male acceptance of the use of contraceptives. The Committee further suggests that a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary study be undertaken to understand the scope of adolescent health problems, including the special situation of children infected with, affected by or vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and STDs. Additionally, it is recommended that the State party undertake further measures, including the allocation of adequate human and financial resources, to increase the number of social workers and psychologists, and to develop youth-friendly care, counseling, and rehabilitation facilities for adolescents. The State party is encouraged to reinforce its efforts in implementing the Caribbean Regional Health and Family Life Education Programme for adolescents by, inter alia , allocating adequate financial and human resources. It is further recommended that the State party seek technical assistance from, inter alia , UNICEF and the World Health Organization.	- The Basic Life Skills commission is active with youth, parents, teachers and community workers (in district and interior); as a result of the implementation of the regional health and family life education. - In the National Strategic Plan HIV/Aids 2004 – 2008, policy interventions are formulated and implemented by the National Aids Programme - A survey has been executed on the availability of youth friendly health services in some areas (urban, rural and interior) and the sexuality of young people in the age group 10 – 24 years. The next step will be to develop a plan of action on how to set up more youth friendly health services. - The National Aids Programme (government) and NGO’s have implemented various activities aimed at the reduction of stigma and discrimination and awareness raising of human rights within the context of HIV/Aids. These include implementation of a national awareness campaigns with materials and messages aimed at health workers, schoolteachers, youth, children and others. - Training of 100 health workers to reduce stigma and discrimination. - Development and implementation of training package for care takers of children with HIV. - Human rights training for key actors in health, social services and armed forces.
In light of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (General Assembly Resolution 48/96) and the Committee’s recommendations adopted at its General Day of Discussion on “The Rights of Children with Disabilities” (CRC/C/69), it is recommended that the State party reinforce its efforts to develop early identification programmes to prevent disabilities, increase its efforts to implement alternatives to the institutionalization of children with disabilities, establish special education programmes for children with disabilities and further encourage their inclusion in society. Additionally, the Committee recommends that the State party undertake an awareness raising campaign to sensitize the public about the rights and special needs of children with disabilities as well as children with mental health concerns. The Committee further recommends that the State party seek technical cooperation for the training of professional staff working with and for children with disabilities from, inter alia , the World Health Organization.	- Training of health workers at under-five clinics to improve skills for early detection of growth and development abnormalities; provision of test kits for early detection (Von Wiegen sets) to under-five clinics and other relevant agencies. - Development of a lesson plan for teachers from the primary school to create awareness for the children at the primary schools regarding what disabilities are, the different forms, how to deal with it and that every child with a disability owns a place within the society. - Special education facilities are available at primary and secondary level. - Parent associations are active in order to educate parents on how to deal with children with disabilities. - Introduction of the new growth and development chart; the charts have been developed and the health workers need to be trained in the use of them. - Set-up a multi-disciplinary team for referrals of children to special education. Team to consist of psychologists, pedagogues, school social workers, speech therapists, dyslexia experts and physical therapist. - Drafting of Law on Special Education. - Reintroduction of training for remedial teaching.
In accordance with article 27 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party increase its efforts to provide material assistance and support to economically disadvantaged families and guarantee the right of children to an adequate standard of living. The Committee further recommends the State party to establish mechanisms to ensure that children living and/or working on the streets are provided with identity documents, nutrition, clothing, and housing. Moreover, the State party should ensure that these children are provided adequate access to health care; rehabilitation services for physical, sexual, and substance abuse; services for reconciliation with families; and education, including vocational and life-skills training. The Committee recommends the State party to cooperate and coordinate its efforts with civil society in this regard.	- Continuation of Government subventions and free medical care programmes for qualifying families. - Based on research done in 2005 on the situation of street and wandering children, it was hard to determine children actually living on the streets. The phenomenon most seen is that children are working on the streets for a certain period of time. Some children are in the end taken into a childcare institution. The youth police are currently the only institute that deals with children working on the street. As a result of the ratification of ILO convention no. 182, the ministry of Labour will establish a multidisciplinary committee with government, civil society, private sector, employer’s organizations that must formulate policy taking into consideration legislative reform and programmes.
The Committee recommends that the State party take all appropriate measures, including the allocation of adequate financial, human and technical resources, to improve the situation of education and ensure that all children enjoy the right to education. It is further recommended that all appropriate measures be taken to increase access to education, especially as regards children living in the interior and to encourage trained teachers to stay in teaching. The Committee further recommends that the State party seek to implement additional measures to encourage children, especially girls in the interior and boys in urban communities, to stay in school, particularly during the period of compulsory education. The Committee encourages the State party to reinforce its efforts to include the use of traditional languages in the school curricula. The State party is encouraged to follow through with its proposal to host a National Education Congress to improve the overall situation of education in all regions of the country. In this context, the State party is strongly encouraged to consider the inclusion of the General Principles of the Convention as well as articles 28, 29 and 31 in the discussions and recommendations of the Congress for further consideration by the State party. It is recommended that the State party encourage child participation within the school environment, including in disciplinary matters. It is recommended that the State party seek to strengthen its educational system through closer cooperation with UNICEF and UNESCO.	The Government is continuously evaluating the education sector in Suriname. Therefore the Government initiated the development of a Suriname Education Plan. To develop this the Government held education congresses to discuss about the needs for reform in the education sector. The Suriname Education Plan (SEP) was developed in 2003 for the next 15 to 20 years and is currently being implemented. Further the Government also drafted the sector plan for education 2004 – 2008. Current projects on going within the education sector: - Project currently implemented in the education sector are: Evaluation of the study finance for higher education in Suriname Feasibility study to establish an institute to provide refresher course for teacher at secondary and tertiary level Further training for school management of primary schools Basic education improvement project: in this project the aim is to reform the basic education into a system of 90 – 10 school years; currently there is 2 years of kindergarten and 6 years of primary education. In this regard the current curricula will be evaluated and adjusted and teachers will be trained LEARN (leerling en ervarinsggerichte aanpak van regulier nationaal basis-onderwijs) project: the aim of the project is to increase the school results of the children by concentrating more on the pupils and their capacity. Pilot is executed in 15 schools. Education in the interior: building of a nucleus center; facilities will be built in order to let children form the different villages come to one place for schooling. The children will be placed in a boarding school. The centers will be built in one of the villages in the interior; KALBOBIS project: is a 3-year project that provides in service training for teachers and school management “on the job” in 3 pilot schools in the interior. The focus is laid on the local context, the involvement of parents and the adjustment of learning materials; Building of 3 boarding schools in the interior: in order to provide secondary education in the interior it is necessary to have facilities for the children where they can stay over; upgrading undergraduate teachers in interior: schooling of 177 teachers in the interior; educational school radio programmes for the different culture groups in the interior; creating more child friendly primary schools in the interior (21 schools); over 100 teachers will be trained in new skills based on child friendly approach in the education process. develop policy for special education (aiming at an inclusive approach based on the “inclusive approach of the world conference on special needs education, Spain 1994”. Setting up a hotel and tourism training center in order to increase training possibilities for young people
The Committee encourages the State party to introduce monitoring mechanisms to ensure the enforcement of labour laws and protect children from economic exploitation, particularly in the informal sectors. It is further recommended that the State party undertake a comprehensive study to assess the situation of child labour. The Committee encourages the State party to consider ratifying ILO Convention No.138 concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and ILO Convention No. 182 concerning the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.	- Completion of the Rapid assessment on “ The situation of children in Mining, Agriculture and other Worst Forms of Labour” in November 2002 - In regard to the ILO Child Labour project there were different meetings organized for awareness to the actors such as the: - Participation of the ministry of Labour at the sub regional tripartite meeting concerning the elimination of the worst Form of labour - Participation in different self-evaluation workshops with the aim to evaluate the recommendations of the project during the period 2003-2004 - In 2004, a seminar was conducted for labour inspectors with the purpose to give them an overview of the ILO conventions no. 138 and 182 to stress the roll of the labour inspection in the fight against child labour - In 2004 a seminar was conducted in Trinidad and Tobago with the first goal child labour and hazardous work - A workshop was held in 2006 with the theme “lessons learnt, the way forward”. The purpose of the meeting was to evaluate the ILO project and to formulate legal institutional and policy framework for especially for children in a vulnerable situation. - In May 2006 the ministry of Labour, Technology and Environment has held a workshop in collaboration with the ILO Caribbean Office with the theme “combating child labor in indigenous communities”. The purpose of the meeting was to develop strategies to fights against child labour at the maroons and Amerindians. Draft strategies were formulated. - ILO convention 182 ratified in April 2006. ILO convention 138 is in discussion at the Board of Ministers.
In light of article 33 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party take all appropriate measures, including administrative, social and educational measures, to protect children from the illicit use of alcohol, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and to prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances. It encourages the State party to support rehabilitation programmes dealing with child victims of alcohol, drug and substance abuse. In this regard, the Committee encourages the State party to consider seeking technical assistance from, inter alia , UNICEF, WHO and the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board.	- Ongoing support for the Bureau of Alcohol and Drugs (BAD) to provide community education and rehabilitation programmes - Ongoing support for the Basic Life Skills Programme to reach out to youth and teach life skills
In light of article 34 and other related articles of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party undertake studies with a view to understanding the scope of the problem and implementing appropriate policies and measures, including the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of victims. The Committee recommends that the State party take into account the recommendations formulated in the Agenda for Action adopted at the 1996 Stockholm World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.	- In 2006, the ministry of Justice and Police installed a commission to review the problem of human trafficking, taking into consideration that human beings are sexually exploited - The activities in regard to the child abuse network van be mentioned here also
The Committee, while noting the completion of a study on juvenile justice, recommends that the State party: a) take all appropriate measures to implement a juvenile justice system in conformity with the Convention, in particular articles 37, 40 and 39, and of other United Nations standards in this field, such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules), the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines) and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty; b) use deprivation of liberty only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time; improve the conditions in detention facilities; protect the rights of children deprived of their liberty, including their right to privacy; and ensure that children remain in contact with their families while in the juvenile justice system; c) introduce training programmes on relevant international standards for all professionals involved with the administration of juvenile justice; d) consider seeking technical assistance from, inter alia , the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Centre for International Crime Prevention, the International Network on Juvenile Justice and UNICEF, through the Coordination Panel on Technical Advice in Juvenile Justice.	- The recommendations from the juvenile justice seminar in 2002 were taken into consideration when adjusting the Penal Code. - Training was also done for personnel of the Judicial Reformatory - The pilot project alternative sanctions for youngsters started on 16 November 2006 for the period of 1 year. The project is to stimulate a permanent use of an alternative punishment for juvenile offenders. Moreover the alternative sanctions are about work sanctions. The purpose of the project is to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. With this project incarceration of juvenile offenders will be the last measure as provided for in article 37b of the Convention. The juvenile offenders will also be less threatened in their development. - Project temporary custody and temporary consignment (V.O.V): aim is to stimulate a permanent use of (temporary) in custody and improvement of the use of (temporary) consignment as appropriate measures for children, who are (acute) threatened in their effective development and needs immediate protection? This is an institutional and structured approach of domestic violence against women and children and living up to the principles of the rights of a child. Realizing the objective, which will lead to an increase of the decree to (temporary) in custody and temporary at the cost of the use of exemption and the dismissal from the parental authority or guardianship as ultimate child protection measures. At the moment the project dossier is being written.
Finally, the Committee recommends that, in light of article 44, paragraph 6, of the Convention, the initial report and written replies presented by the State party be made widely available to the public at large and that the publication of the report be considered, along with the relevant summary records and the concluding observations adopted thereon by the Committee. Such a document should be widely distributed in order to generate debate and awareness of the Convention and its implementation and monitoring within the Government and the general public, including NGOs.	- Broad dissemination of the First Periodic Report of Suriname