his national report on ageing in Suriname focuses on the period of 2007-2011 and includes:
• Review of legal, administrative programmatic and institutional aspects.
• Identification of best practices
• Key actions to be taken in the next five years to strengthen the protection of the rights of
older people
The study shows that:
• Legislations on issues (such as standards for home care for elderly and financial support)
have been formulated. However these legislations have not yet been implemented. They
are still waiting for approval by the council of ministers.
Positive is that overdue pension payments (as arranged in the civic code) to the elderly
will be paid.
• Most programs as described in the report date before 2007, e.g:
- Monthly financial support to financially weak persons including a small group of senior
citizens.
- The General Old Age Provision (AOV) to senior citizens paid monthly to every
Surinamese citizen and non Surinamese national who lived, worked and contributed to
the pension fund for at least 10 years
- A number of community, mostly religious organizations, provide free food packages to
vulnerable members including the elderly
New programs are mostly still in the planning phase. Progressive is the awareness that there is
need for special attention to the elderly and fulfillment of their rights. In the government
planning since 2006 there are a series of priority actions listed. However little achievement was
made in the implementation since no structure nor budget was allocated to these activities. There
are insufficient mechanisms to guarantee the full implementation of the desires stated in the
planning.
Some of the current ongoing initiatives are on very limited scale, only accessible to senior
citizens in the urban districts or are financially too challenging for most senior citizens. Positive
developments are the steady increase of the AOV and the developments in the pension scheme of
civil servants.
• The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social affairs recognize ageing and the case of
senior citizens in their policy vision. Specific actions towards implementation of this
policy are mentioned in their current planning, for example:
5
Draft regulation and national policy for chronic disease control and the formulation of
care protocols in hypertension and diabetes with emphasis on self management by clients.
Incorporation of homecare policy in the health policy and drafting of a national plan for
integration and improvement of the care for elderly
The proposal of a combination of measures, construction of new houses, (a percentage of
social housing will be specifically aimed to senior citizens or families with senior
citizens), better land policy, renovation of deteriorating housing, creating of loan facilities
all guided by relevant legal framework.
The institutional framework to reach these expected results are however not fully in place.
• Out of the various inititiaves that have been mentioned in the report to improve the lives
of the elderly in Suriname the potential best practice initiatives that can be identified in
the realm of social security and adequate living standards of senior citizens are
1. Free of charge service for senior home owners by the Energy Company Suriname
2. The General Old Age Provision