A/HRC/18/2 broad process carried out for the preparation of the universal periodic review would be maintained in the implementation phase. The international community should show understanding of the difficulties faced by the country and provide constructive assistance to help Suriname to attain the Millennium Development Goals. 500. Cuba stated that Suriname had made great efforts to minimize the negative impact on human rights of the economic crisis and the unjust international economic order. It recognized the work of the Government in dealing with the complex issues stemming from a multiethnic and multireligious society. It noted the efforts made to combat gender inequalities in the home and in society. Regarding health, Cuba highlighted the significant progress made in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. It also underscored that Suriname was leading the fight against malaria in the American continent and that the country was about to attain the second Millennium Development Goal, by guaranteeing universal primary education. Cuba congratulated Suriname on having accepted many of the recommendations made during the session of the Working Group, including those it had formulated in relation to continuing efforts to promote and protect the rights of women, children and juveniles and overcome their vulnerability, and to continue to implement programmes and measures to enhance the enjoyment of the right to education and the right to health. 501. The United States of America expressed appreciation for the serious commitment with which Suriname had approached its universal periodic review. It also appreciated the support given by Suriname to its recommendations to convene a conference on indigenous peoples and to continue to work with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. The United States was also grateful for information provided on the recommendations relating to the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons from discrimination. It welcomed a constructive dialogue on this issue and noted that, in its addendum, Suriname had placed these recommendations in a distinctive category, apart from those it had supported or rejected. It urged the Government to continue to consider recommendations that legislation protecting LGBT persons from discrimination be adopted. 502. Uruguay thanked Suriname for the detailed information provided and noted that it had been part of the troika that had facilitated the country’s review. Uruguay welcomed the fact that a considerable number of recommendations had been accepted. It noted, in particular, Suriname’s commitment to concluding the ratification processes of the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Uruguay also welcomed the Government’s pledge to establish a national human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles. It urged Suriname to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in schools and in the home and other establishments frequented by children. It also urged Suriname to definitively abolish the death penalty and to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 503. UNICEF welcomed the endorsement by Suriname of the recommendations to conclude the ratification process of the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to improve the quality and access to education, especially in the interior of the country. In accordance with the accepted recommendations, UNICEF called on Suriname to focus on the rights of the most vulnerable children living in the interior areas and those belonging to indigenous and minority groups. It also called on Suriname to prioritize the approval of key draft legislation, such as the Wet Opvanginstellingen, the early child development standards and the draft law to create the office of an ombudsperson for children, in accordance with the concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF urged Suriname to submit its overdue combined third and 152 GE.12-17756