CERD/C/64/CO/9 page 5 21. While noting the State party’s legitimate desire to ensure that the official language is taught and to promote the teaching of Spanish and English, the Committee is disturbed at the lack of plans to preserve the native languages of the country’s indigenous and tribal peoples. It is also concerned that Sranan Tongo, which is spoken by the majority of the population, is not given sufficient prominence in education. The Committee invites the State party to encourage the learning of mother tongues, in particular Sranan Tongo, with a view to preserve the cultural and linguistic identity of the various ethnic groups. 22. The Committee notes that the authorities appear to limit themselves to not hampering the exercise by the various ethnic groups and their members of their cultural rights. The Committee recommends that the State party should respect and promote the indigenous and tribal peoples’ cultures, languages and distinctive ways of life. It encourages the authorities to carry out a survey, in collaboration with the groups concerned, of the impact of economic development in the indigenous and tribal peoples’ lands on their collective and individual cultural rights. 23. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general recommendation XXIII (1997) on the rights of indigenous peoples, and reminds it of the relevance of International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 concerning indigenous and tribal peoples to Suriname’s particular circumstances. The Committee would welcome further information on the general discussion of the substance of that Convention, which was mentioned in the 1992 Peace Accord, and the outcome. It encourages the State party to consider ratifying the Convention as quickly as possible. 24. The Committee is concerned about reports that the process of voluntary repatriation and reintegration of Surinamese refugees in French Guyana has not been completed for many Maroon men, leaving their wives and children in deep poverty. The Committee would like detailed information on this issue. 25. The Committee takes note of the State party’s desire to respect the marriage customs of various ethnic groups, its efforts to establish a uniform age of consent at 18 years, and to ban marriages to which the woman does not consent. On this point, it observes that the 1973 Marriage Act came into force in June 2003. The Committee recommends continued efforts by the State party to ensure that the rights of women are respected, irrespective of the community they belong to, especially where marriage is concerned. It calls for detailed information on the marriage rules and practices that apply in the indigenous and tribal communities.