Until the Second World War, the grant and withdrawal of nationality was regarded as being wholly within the sovereign discretion of states. Since the Universal Declaration on Human Rights first provided for the right to a nationality in 1948, the international human rights framework has increasingly restricted that discretion.
The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons provides for the protection of stateless persons in a similar framework to that established for refugees; while the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness establishes certain basic rules to avoid statelessness at birth and in case of loss or deprivation of nationality.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both provide for every child to have the right to acquire a nationality. In addition, all the international human rights treaties targeting various forms of discrimination mention the right to a nationality, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racism, the Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, and the Convention on the Rights of All Persons with Disabilities.
More information on the international standards and actions against statelessness can be found on the UNHCR website, including a set of important Guidelines on Statelessness and Good Practices Papers for states. In 2014, UNHCR launched the #IBelong campaign to end statelessness in ten years.
88th Pre-Sessional Working Group 08 -12 February 2021 The Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), the Centre for Child Law and the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (the Institute) welcome the opportunity to make this submission…
Update on pledges Awareness and advocacy Issuance of nationality documentation Strengthening birth registration Legislative reform Accession to conventions Protecting stateless people Measuring statelessness Download : https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/82610
Extracts relevant to Africa: Mobilizing governments and civil society On 26 August, the Minister of Interior of South Sudan endorsed a National Action Plan to End Statelessness (NAP). The NAP includes the accession of South Sudan to the UN Statelessness…
Extracts related to Africa: Mobilizing governments and civil society In April and May in Somalia, UNHCR undertook consultations with senior government officials of the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation to discuss the implementation of Somalia’s High-Level Segment pledges,…
Extract: Africa Nationality laws in six countries in Africa do not provide mothers equal rights as fathers to confer their nationality on their children, leading to a risk of statelessness for such children. Under the 1962 Citizenship Law of Somalia,…
UPR 37th Session; 3rd Cycle; January/February 2021 Joint submission by: Association des femmes chefs de Famille SOS-Esclaves Anti-slavery International Minority Rights Group International Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion Recommendations: Based on the above information,…
Updated version of paper first published 2016: Download: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5f203d0e4.html
By Bronwen Manby and Clement Bernardo Mubanga Introduction Robert John Penessis v United Republic of Tanzania (Judgement) (‘Penessis’) is the second case decided by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (‘African Court’) that considers the right to a…
UNHCR issues these Guidelines pursuant to its mandate responsibilities to address statelessness. These responsibilities were initially limited to stateless persons who were refugees as set out in paragraph 6(A)(II) of the UNHCR Statute and Article 1(A)(2) of the1951 Convention relating…
Includes the following information from Africa: Mobilizing governments and civil society On 3 October, UNHCR organized a roundtable discussion in Juba, South Sudan, on accession to the two UN Statelessness Conventions. The roundtable was organized in close collaboration with the…