UNHCR Campaign to End Statelessness Update July 2018
Published: 1/Jul/2018
Source: UNHCR
Extracts:
- On 10 April, in Antananarivo, Madagascar, UNHCR and UNICEF co-hosted the Indian Ocean Islands Roundtable on the Prevention of Statelessness. The roundtable, which included the participation of Government focal points from the Comoros, Madagascar and Mauritius, focused on the Coalition on Every Child’s Right to a Nationality, the 2019 High Level Event, and the draft African Union Protocol on the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness. During the roundtable, participants agreed to enhance regional cooperation related to statelessness and UNHCR encouraged early consideration of pledges that States could make at the 2019 High Level Event.
- On 24-27 April, the newly nominated Government Focal Points on Statelessness from 11 Member States of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) convened in Naivasha, Kenya for the first regional strategic workshop to advance the Brazzaville Declaration and Action Plan adopted in October 2017. The Focal Points endorsed a Roadmap, in which each Government committed in principle to forming a statelessness task-force by June 2018, preparing a draft National Action Plan by August 2018, and initiating the process of accession to the Statelessness Conventions by no later than August 2019.
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On 8 May, UNHCR hosted a seminar on “Strengthening South African Academia in Preventing Statelessness and Protection Stateless Persons in Southern Africa” at the University of Cape Town. The sessions, which were facilitated by UNHCR, the University of Cape Town and Lawyers for Human Rights, brought together students, academic staff and representatives from civil society organisations to discuss existing gaps in statelessness research On 11 May, UNHCR and the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, South Africa, hosted a roundtable with persons who are stateless or at risk of statelessness. Participants shared their daily challenges in grappling with their lack of citizenship and highlighted the need for a regional approach to address statelessness in Sothern Africa. The roundtable will help to shape UNHCR’s advocacy strategy and activities in the region.
Available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/5b44c5537.html