Extracts relevant to Africa:<\/p>\n
Implementation of the Global Action Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n Action 1: Resolve existing major situations of statelessness<\/strong><\/p>\n On 12 December, during Kenya\u2019s 59th Jamhuri Day (Independence day) celebrations, President Dr. William Ruto announced that the Government will \u201cinitiate modalities to recognize the Pemba people as citizens of Kenya\u201d. This important step follows year-long advocacy\u00a0 from a group of Members of Parliament, affected communities, UNHCR and civil society, as well as a 2020 public petition calling on the\u00a0 government to recognize the Pemba as Kenyan. UNHCR will provide technical and operational support to the government and other\u00a0 stakeholders to ensure that this announcement is translated into effective access to Kenyan citizenship and the issuance of nationality\u00a0 documentation to the Pemba community. To operationalize the presidential decision to naturalize the Pemba people, UNHCR and its partner\u00a0 organization the Haki Centre are supporting the Pemba people in creating a community self-register to map their family trees in\u00a0 order to prove their\u00a0 claim to Kenyan nationality. To finalize the self-register, UNHCR provided a training on the Citizen Generated Data framework to staff from the Haki Centre, paralegals from the Pemba community, and community representatives.<\/p>\n Action 2: Ensure that no child is born stateless<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n A number of States in West and Central Africa made steps towards establishing a statelessness determination procedure in the fourth quarter of 2022. On 24 October, the National Assembly of Benin adopted a law on the status of refugees and stateless persons which\u00a0 regulates the protection of stateless persons and provides for the creation of a national body in charge of the to-be-established <\/span><\/span>statelessness determination\u00a0 procedure. The next<\/span><\/span> step will be publication of the law in the Official<\/span><\/span> Gazette and adoption of the implementing decree.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n On 26 October, the\u00a0 Ministry of Justice of<\/span><\/span> Niger<\/span><\/span>, with<\/span><\/span> the support from UNHCR, organized a workshop<\/span><\/span> to discuss and validate a consultancy report on<\/span><\/span> an asylum\u00a0 reform and the establishment of a<\/span><\/span> statelessness determination procedure.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n The Governments of<\/span><\/span> Burkina Faso<\/span><\/span> and<\/span><\/span> Guinea<\/span><\/span> held <\/span><\/span>workshops with experts to review and validate draft<\/span><\/span> legislation on the establishment of\u00a0 statelessness<\/span><\/span> determination procedures. The draft legislation will<\/span><\/span> next be submitted for adoption in both countries.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants<\/span><\/span> and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) of<\/span><\/span> Nigeria<\/span><\/span> held a three-day<\/span><\/span> meeting<\/span><\/span> to review\u00a0 the draft<\/span><\/span> standard operating procedures on the statelessness<\/span><\/span> determination procedure. The meeting was attended<\/span><\/span> by representatives from\u00a0 relevant government<\/span><\/span> agencies, UN agencies and NGOs and resulted in a<\/span><\/span> communique from various stakeholders calling on<\/span><\/span> the NCFRMI to\u00a0 promptly establish a statelessness<\/span><\/span> determination procedure.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Action 7: Ensure birth registration for the <\/span><\/span>prevention of statelessness<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n From 14 to 18 November, in Kenya, UNHCR\u2019s partner organization Haki Centre and the Civil Registration Services conducted a five-day\u00a0 mobile birth registration exercise in five locations in Kwale County assisting over 2,000 stateless individuals and at-risk populations.\u00a0 UNHCR joined the exercise to monitor the implementation and get feedback from the communities on service delivery. Also in Kenya, from\u00a0 28 November to 2 December, UNHCR, Haki Centre and the Civil Registration Services consulted with the stateless Pemba and Rundi\u00a0 communities in Kwale and Kilifi counties to understand the challenges they encounter in accessing late birth registration. Their feedback and\u00a0 recommendations are meant to inform policy changes in late birth registration to ensure that stateless persons can access these\u00a0 procedures.<\/p>\n UNHCR and the civil registry authorities of<\/span><\/span> Sudan<\/span><\/span><\/span> continued birth registration campaigns in eight<\/span><\/span> states of the country and issued birth\u00a0 certificates to<\/span><\/span> more than 5,000 individuals at risk of statelessness,<\/span><\/span> including returnees, internally displaced people,<\/span><\/span> refugees, and individuals\u00a0 from host communities.<\/span><\/span> The eight states include North, West and South<\/span><\/span> Kordofan, North, East and Central Darfur, Gedaref<\/span><\/span> and Khartoum.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n From October to December, UNCHR supported the<\/span><\/span> Government of<\/span><\/span> Burkina Faso<\/span><\/span> in issuing over 40,000<\/span><\/span> civil status and identity documents\u00a0 to around 4,000<\/span><\/span> refugees, 20,000 internally displaced persons and<\/span><\/span> 16,000 members of host communities. Additionally,<\/span><\/span> the digital<\/span><\/span> icivil<\/span><\/span> birth registration tool was deployed<\/span><\/span> in the commune of Karangasso-Vigu\u00e9, Hauts-<\/span><\/span>Bassins region, which facilitated the issuance of<\/span><\/span> close to 600 birth certificates to persons at risk of<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 statelessness. In the same period 60 new secondary<\/span><\/span> civil registration centers were opened.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In<\/span><\/span> Algeria<\/span><\/span>, UNHCR carried out awareness-raising<\/span><\/span> sessions on the importance of birth registration<\/span><\/span> during refugee registration and reception\u00a0 activities<\/span><\/span> from October to December. During this period,<\/span><\/span> several individuals were identified and referred for<\/span><\/span> legal assistance to access late\u00a0 birth registration<\/span><\/span> services or to correct their birth certificates.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Action 8: Issue nationality documentation to <\/span><\/span>those with entitlement to it<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n In 2022, UNHCR and its partner the Catholic<\/span><\/span> University of Mozambique, in cooperation with<\/span><\/span> the Government of<\/span><\/span> Mozambique<\/span><\/span>, supported\u00a0 the<\/span><\/span> issuance of identity documents to 8,619 internally<\/span><\/span> displaced persons and members of the host<\/span><\/span> community in Cabo Delgado Province. In Nampula<\/span><\/span> Province 7,482 identity documents and 7,884 birth<\/span><\/span> certificates were issued and in Zambezia province,<\/span><\/span> 2,873 identity documents\u00a0 and 5,593 birth certificates<\/span><\/span> were issued.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Action 10: Improve quantitative and qualitative <\/span><\/span>data on stateless populations<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n On 19 October, the study \u201cStatelessness and Risks<\/span><\/span> of Statelessness in<\/span><\/span> Malawi<\/span><\/span>\u201d was validated at a<\/span><\/span> stakeholders\u2019 meeting in Lilongwe, Malawi,\u00a0 and will<\/span><\/span> soon be published. The study was commissioned by<\/span><\/span> the Government of Malawi and UNHCR.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n On 28 October, the Government of<\/span><\/span> Angola<\/span><\/span> and<\/span><\/span> UNHCR released a study on statelessness which<\/span><\/span> was shared with government authorities,\u00a0 embassies,<\/span><\/span> UN agencies and other relevant parties. The<\/span><\/span> study identifies the following groups as being at<\/span><\/span> risk of statelessness: former Angolan refugees<\/span><\/span> returning to Angola, abandoned children, street<\/span><\/span> children, nomadic communities in southern Angola,<\/span><\/span> populations living in\u00a0 disputed border regions,<\/span><\/span> irregular foreign migrants and long-term refugees.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Mobilizing governments and civil society<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The Ministry of Interior Federal Affairs and<\/span><\/span> Reconciliation of<\/span><\/span> Somalia<\/span><\/span> held a stakeholder<\/span><\/span> consultation from 2 to 5 October on improving<\/span><\/span>