National Action Plan to Eradicate and End Statelessness in the Kingdom of Eswatini
Published: 1/Oct/2019
Source: Government of Eswatini
OVERVIEW:
On May 21-23, 2019, a workshop was held in order to discuss the causes and consequences of statelessness and to agree upon the most relevant actions to develop a national action plan to eradicate statelessness in Eswatini. Participants involved in the drafting of the National Action Plan (NAP) ranged from Government representatives and Non- Governmental Organisations. There were representatives from Ministry of the Home Affairs, Ministry of Justice & Constitutional Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, Kings’ Office, Human Rights Commission, Women and Law, Lawyers for Human Rights, Caritas, Adra, UNHCR, and academia.
Considering the fact that statelessness is both a human rights and development issue, addressing statelessness will go a long way towards realizing the Sustainable Development Goals in the context of Eswatini’s National Development Agenda.
The Government Focal Point on Statelessness and UNHCR shall submit the final draft of the NAP to the Minister of Home Affairs, after its finalisation and approval by the drafting team which was selected at the meeting comprising of Legal Advisor Home Affairs, Deputy Refugees Commissioner, Deputy Prime Minister’s Office and civil society representatives. The Minister of Home Affairs after consideration transmitted same to Cabinet for approval and endorsement.
Cabinet endorsed the Action Plan and its adoption was reported as an achievement at the High Level Statelessness Event that was held in Geneva on the 7th October, 2019. The main purpose of that event was to highlight achievements by Member States towards ending statelessness as per the Global Action Plan to end statelessness by 2024.
Other achievements under this sector, include that the country is signatory to both the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 on the Reduction of Statelessness. Further, the Kingdom has appointed a National Focal Person on Statelessness in compliance with MIDSA resolution and the Global Action Plan to end statelessness.
The intended monitoring, evaluation and reporting mechanisms for the implementation of this action plan are as follows:
- Decision making level: High-Level Steering Committee on the Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness in Eswatini composed of various stakeholders made up of Government ministries and Civil Society and the Academia.
- Operational level: National Taskforce formed to follow up on the NAP, consisting of the Government Focal Point on Statelessness, UNHCR, and representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs (representatives from the Civil Registration, Immigration and Refugees Departments), Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Ministry of Tinkhundla, Human Rights Commission and Non- Governmental Organisation.
Download: Eswatini Action Plan for Statelessness