UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 38) ... On May 18, 2012, Suriname ratified the OP-CRC-SC.

Para 39) ... Regarding the OP-CRC-IC, the relevant departments of State are studying the effect, impact and consequences that such ratification will have on the nation.

National Report:
Para 25) The Government of Suriname (Ministry of Labour, Employment Opportunity and Youth Affairs) has submitted the Bill on Equal Treatment in Employment to The National Assembly (the Parliament) in 2019. This Bill prohibits among others discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, LGBT individuals in the labour market and related labour issues.

UN Compilation:
Para 15) The United Nations country team stated that the Government of Suriname had not sufficiently taken the necessary steps to adopt legislative and other measures to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and that it had not intensified measures to prevent and sanction violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. There were also no legal regulations that specifically addressed the status of transgender persons.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 10) JS1 stated that still little progress could be reported towards the enactment and adoption of necessary robust and comprehensive legislation and policies to effectively prevent and punish all forms of rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all settings.
Para 35) JS1 stated that the right to family life through marriage was exclusively guaranteed for couples of opposite sexes by Article 80 in conjunction with Article 138 of the Civil Code. It noted that the Civil Code was under review, but that so far no attention had been given to the aspect of discrimination on sexual orientation and gender identity of Article 80.

"National Report:
Para 9) In 2013, about forty (40) teachers from the upper secondary level were trained in gender and gender-related issues, including eliminating gender stereotypes.

Para 11) The Ministry of Home Affairs financially supports NGOs’ projects to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. For example, in the District of Marowijne topics such as gender and gender equality were presented to the public by youth educators during a festival of art and culture. In the District of Nickerie information on gender equality was provided to the public by staff of the National Bureau for Gender Policy, during a Mini Bazaar, organized by the Sari Foundation. In 2015, male students from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) received training in the prevention of and taking responsibility in cases of teen pregnancy. They also received information about gender, while the aspect of equality between men and women was emphasized.

Para 12) The National Bureau for Gender Policy annually organizes awareness raising activities such as the publication of articles in daily newspapers, essay competitions, drawing competitions, promotion of slogans related to gender and gender based violence targeting various groups using bracelets, invoices of public utilities and paychecks of all civil servants through the Central Bureau of Mechanical Administration (Cebuma). These activities are conducted within the framework of Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, during the period from November 25th (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) to December 10th (Human Rights Day). The awareness raising activities are not only carried out in the capital Paramaribo but also in the rural districts.

Para 15) The Ministry of Justice and Police is in the process of drafting legislation to revise the Civil Code to address the situation in which women employed by companies in the private sector without the benefit of a Collective Labor Agreement, have no legal coverage for maternity leave services by their employers. Paid maternity leave for the private sector has been added to the draft Civil Code. Some companies have included paid maternity leave in their Collective Labor Agreement. For civil servants, paid maternity leave is covered by law.

Para 16) In 2013 and 2014, a couple of staff members of the National Bureau for Gender Policy received training in the following: gender equality and gender mainstreaming; development of gender indicators and the collection of data on gender; and conducting a survey. In 2014, the gender focal points of the various ministries, together with the UNDAP chairs, were also trained in a basic training on gender equality and gender mainstreaming.

Para 17) In 2015, the National Bureau for Gender Policy, was renamed the Bureau Gender Affairs (Staatsblad (S.B.) 2015, no. 33). The Bureau continues to improve its internal workings, and currently, the organizational structure with its various positions are being reviewed.

Para 20) In 2013, the Ministry of Home Affairs installed the Commission on Legislation on Gender, comprising of representatives of various ministries, civil society including women’s organizations, and the Anton de Kom University of Suriname. The Commission was tasked with, among others, identifying gender discriminatory laws and regulations, and proposing amendments to them. In January 2016, a working group was installed to amend the Personeelswet (Act on the regulation of the legal status of civil servants). With respect to government issued ID-cards, no act exists that regulates this.

Para 21) In 2014, Suriname’s National Assembly amended the Act on Regulation of the Surinamese Nationality and Residency (S.B. 2014 no. 121). Previous language of this Act was in violation of international standards, by differentiating in the treatment of men and women with respect to acquiring and losing the Surinamese nationality through marriage and divorce, enabling only non-national women (not men) who marry a Surinamese man to become a Surinamese national. The 2014 amendment reverses decades of gender discrimination in nationality laws. It brings Surinamese law in line with international standards, in particular, article 9 (1) and (2) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), by removing all differentiations between men and women with respect to acquiring and losing the Surinamese nationality.

Para 22) The 2014 Amendment of the Act on Nationality and Residency also changed the situation with regard to the nationality of children. Until then, the child of a Surinamese woman, born out of wedlock, not legally recognized by the father, but born in Suriname, could acquire the Surinamese nationality. Born elsewhere, such child would be stateless. The child of a Surinamese man acquired Surinamese nationality regardless of its place of birth. These prior provisions were in violation of CEDAW, Article 9 (2). According to the 2014 Amendment, a child is now granted Surinamese nationality automatically if its father or mother is of Surinamese nationality at the time of its birth (Article 3 (a) as amended), while the other conditions for a woman to confer her nationality to her child have been removed. The explanatory memorandum to the Act states that this amendment “demonstrates the full equality of men and women (father and mother) before the Act in the establishment of the nationality of the child at birth”. Article 3 (c) of the 2014 Act retains the provision of granting Surinamese nationality to any child born on the territory who would otherwise be stateless, and Article 4 (b) retains the provision granting Surinamese nationality to foundlings or abandoned children in the country, whose parents are unknown.

Para 24) Amendment of articles 15 (2), 41, 57, and 73 (1) of the Election Act, took place in March 2005. The list of candidates and the election register no longer automatically register married women or widows under the name of their husband or late husband. Women are now being registered under their maiden name and have an option to make a special request to add their husband’s name. During the general elections of 2010, for the first time one-thousand three-hundred and sixty (1360) married women made use of this option and registered under their maiden name, adding the name of their husband, while another 297 registered adding the name of their late husband.

Para 25) Draft legislation on ‘Sexual harassment at the Workplace’ has been formulated as a combined effort of the Ilse Henar Foundation for Women’s Rights (NGO) and the National Bureau for Gender Policy of the Ministry of Home Affairs, and as a result of the 3 year program (2008–2011) on the prevention and elimination of sexual harassment at the workplace, as implemented by the Foundation. Discussion on the draft is continuing at several national platforms, involving all relevant stakeholders.

Para 27) The Gender Work Plan has been formulated and contains six priority areas: decision-making, education, health, labor, income and poverty, and violence (domestic violence and sexual violence). The Gender Work Plan 2013 is currently being evaluated

Para 29) In February and June of 2012, the National Assembly organized round table discussions aimed at sensitizing members of parliament and leaders and representatives of political parties, including women representatives, on the empowerment of women in political parties and the involvement of women in decision-making structures and at mobilizing commitment to the candidacy of women in the general elections of 2015. As an outcome of both workshops, the Speaker of the House, a female herself, commissioned the political parties to develop an action plan.

Para 30) In 2014, the National Assembly carried out the project ‘More women in decision-making 2015’. The purpose of the project was to mobilize commitments from political parties to nominate more women as candidates for parliament, in management positions or political administrative positions; to strengthen self-confidence and self-awareness of politically active women within political parties or potential female candidates (how to present yourself); increase awareness on the importance of having more women in politics. The activities in this regard included roundtable discussions on “Gender and Politics” with political parties represented in parliament; training sessions with politically active women and potential female candidates; and exposure of female candidates for parliament.

Para 31) The major aim of the activities was to strengthen the capacity of women within the political parties and to increase the number of women in decision-making bodies after the elections in 2015. In the period 2014-2015, the project ‘More female leadership in 2015’, aimed at encouraging the increase of female leadership at the political administrative level, and in the private sector, was carried out by STAS International (NGO), supported by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The development of a database of highly educated women was part of this project.

Para 32) As a result of above-mentioned activities, parliament saw an increase of female members as follows. At the 2010 general elections, the number of women elected to the National Assembly was 5 out of 51 seats (10% female, 90% male). After the general elections held in May 2015, 13 women were elected out of 51 seats (25% female, 75% male).

Para 33) After the elections of May 2015, the Bureau for Gender Affairs sent an open letter to the media, calling upon the new government to nominate and appoint women on equal terms with men to various public decision-making positions, in view of the principles of democracy.

Para 34) In the public sector a fixed salary is maintained for officials with similar job functions and positions as mandated by the Functie Informatie Systeem Overheid (FISO). Private companies with a Collective Labor Agreement also have wage ranges. With regard to small companies, mostly family-owned, it is unclear how the wage structure looks like. Measures to increase employment opportunities are directly related to poverty reduction. To eradicate poverty and strengthen social protection, a national social security system has been established through the adoption and implementation, in 2014, of three (3) social laws, namely the Minimum Hour Wage Act, the National Pension Benefits Act and the National Basic Health Insurance Act. Major beneficiaries of these interventions are women, considering they are over-represented in lower income groups, and considering the growing number of female heads of households.

Para 35) The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture has promoted a number of policies and actions aimed at eliminating factors which tend to perpetuate gender inequalities. The Basic Education Improvement Project (BEIP) management, e.g., has been instructed to include gender equality in the implementation of BEIP II 2012-2016. In 2012 and 2013, information on gender and gender related violence was provided to students from junior and senior secondary schools by the Foundation Stop Violence Against Women, at the request of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Religious leaders and teachers from secondary schools received training in gender and gender related issues, such as domestic violence, from the Bureau for Gender Affairs.

Para 36) Teachers have been trained by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture on gender and human rights, to enable them to play an effective role in the Basic Life Skills Program. The Advanced Teacher Training Institute (IOL) teaches the subject Gender, Power and Culture within the course Dutch Language. In 2013, the government hired expertise from NGOs, in particular the ‘Foundation Projekta’, to provide gender training. Text books and illustrations related to different disciplines (history, nature education, and geography) have been revised in order to present a more gender balanced perspective. The Bureau for Gender Affairs and several NGOs are also addressing the issue of gender stereotyping. Projekta, e.g., has developed gender awareness materials for radio and television, and disseminates these through NGO partners and the government.

UN Compilation:
Para 16) Concerning universal periodic review recommendation 73.23, UNHCR welcomed the decision by Suriname to amend Law No. 4 of 24 November 1975 on Nationality and Residence to ensure gender equality in the transmission of nationality. According to UNHCR, in July 2014, the National Assembly of Suriname had passed the Draft Law on Nationality and Residency (Ontwerpwet op de Nationaliteit en het Ingezetenschap), amending the 1975 Law. The new law gave women the same right as men to confer their nationality to their spouses and introduced important safeguards to prevent statelessness due to loss of nationality.

Para 17) In that regard, earlier in 2014, the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice had sent a communication to Suriname, noting that legislation in Suriname discriminated against women in that children born abroad to unmarried parents acquired Surinamese citizenship by descent if their father was a Surinamese citizen but not if their mother was."

National Report:
Para 60) To raise awareness regarding equal opportunities and responsibilities for men and women, in order to abolish discrimination on the basis of gender which will lead to greater representation of women in positions of responsibility, the State has conducted some activities among others:
Para 61) In 2016 the Bureau Gender Affairs (BGA) implemented various awareness-raising activities regarding the International Day of the Girl Child.
Para 65) Various campaigns and projects have been carried out to encourage and increase participation of women in political structures. These activities were mainly carried out by NGOs and women’s organisations and took place prior to the 2015 and 2020 general elections. Activities related to women in the democratic process which were implemented were among others: (a) Project “More Women in Decision-making 2015”. (b) The “OokZij” Campaign of STAS. International (2014-2015).
Para 67) … The NGO STAS International implemented an awareness campaign “Balance in 2020”, with support of the UNDP and the Dutch Embassy, with the aim to achieve balance (men/women and young/old candidates) on the candidates lists of the general elections of May 25, 2020. Live television debates with political organizations were also part of this awareness campaign.