Nigeria: UN, Cso Launch Project Against Statelessness
Published: 14/Sep/2016
Source: Daily Trust (Abuja)
The West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF), with support from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), has launched a project aimed at reducing the risk of statelessness in Nigeria.
The United Nations (UN) describes statelessness as a situation in which an individual is not considered a national by any state under the operation of its laws. Such a person is said to be invisible, without an identity and deprived of his or her fundamental human rights.
WACSOF said more than 10 million stateless people worldwide with more than 750,000 found in West Africa.
The Acting General Secretary of WACSOF, Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani said in a statement that the project titled: “Reducing risk of statelessness in Nigeria through research, advocacy and empowerment/sensitization of national authorities, Civil Society Organizations and other stakeholders,” was aimed at supporting efforts towards the reduction of risks/situations of statelessness.