Côte d’Ivoire, February 2015 / Signature of the Abidjan Declaration of Ministers of ECOWAS Member States on Eradication of Statelessness by Mr. Coulibaly G. Mamadou, Minister of Justice and Human Rights of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, in the presence of Mr. António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and Dr. Fatimata Dia Sow, ECOWAS Commissioner in charge of Social Affairs. © UNCHR / Hien Macline Maintaining momentum on further State action on statelessness in West Africa With the high number of statelessness-related pledges taken in West Africa, there is much follow-up work to be done to ensure that States fulfill their commitments. This can come in the form of ongoing advocacy at the political level as well as by providing technical assistance on the modalities of acceding to the Statelessness Conventions. It could also include efforts to promote nationality law reform, improve civil-registration procedures and undertake studies on statelessness. As for further progress in West Africa since 2011, Burkina Faso and Niger deposited their instruments of accession to the 1954 Statelessness Convention while Guinea did so for the 1961 Convention. Côte d’Ivoire and Gambia acceded to both the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions. Since 2012 UNHCR has convened a series of regional meetings and seminars in the region to sustain the momentum created by the accelerated rate of accessions. The African Union, which had pledged at UNHCR’s 2011 Ministerial Meeting to raise awareness of statelessness, followed up on a 2012 symposium with the theme, “Preventing Statelessness, Preventing Conflicts”, by working with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to raise the profile of the issue. The Commission subsequently adopted a resolution on the right to a nationality and has recently initiated a process to draft a protocol on the right to a nationality in Africa. UNHCR also took steps to increase awareness of statelessness among key stakeholders in West Africa through a round table organized with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union in December 2013. The round table resulted in a declaration, the Banjul Appeal, which calls upon States, NGOs and regional and international organizations to take specific measures to prevent and reduce statelessness and improve the protection of stateless people. On 19 December 2014, UNHCR’s RRWA held a one-week training session on statelessness in Dakar, Senegal, for more than 30 journalists from across the West African region. A wide range of issues was covered, including the rights of stateless people and the duties of States vis-à-vis stateless children, women and men. Most recently, in February 2015, 15 ECOWAS Member States adopted a Declaration to end statelessness in West Africa and pledged to undertake law reforms to prevent statelessness (Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone), naturalise stateless refugees born in the country (Mali) and accede to the statelessness conventions (Ghana, Mali and Togo). 10 CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS