Marie Levens

Maria Elizabeth (Marie) Levens (born 13 July 1950) is a politician who held the post of Foreign Minister of Suriname for 5 years (2000–2005) In that capacity she has led several missions to negotiate on peace, development, bilateral and multilateral cooperation and trade all over the world. She graduated in Educational Sciences in the Netherlands after receiving a teaching degree in her own country.

After having worked for 30 years all together at all levels of Education from primary school through high school to University, she became a member of the board of the University of Suriname and contributed to the establishment of the school of Educational Sciences. The Institute of Quality Assurance at the University was her initiative; she became the first director of that institute and contributed a great deal to the national and regional Caribbean movement on the establishment of legislation and mechanisms on accreditation. Her experience as the director of the Scholarship Program in Suriname, which includes negotiations with universities in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe proves to be quite useful in her current responsibility as the Director of the Department of Human Development of the OAS. This Department is responsible for capacity building in the member states through an Academic and Professional Development Scholarship Program; a Student Loan Program and the Educational Portal of the Americas, an instrument to offer distance education throughout the Americas.

As a consultant in Education she was involved in depth sector analyses and worked for several International Organizations, among them the Inter American Development Bank.

Her chairmanship of the Forum for Non Governmental Organizations in Suriname resulted from her 35 years of voluntary work in Europe, Suriname and the Caribbean.