The legal framework on nationality in Zimbabwe consists of Chapter 3 of the 2013 Constitution and the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act No. 23 of 1984 (as amended by Act No. 7 of 1990, Act No. 12 of 2001, Act No. 22 of 2001, Act No. 23 of 2001, Act No. 1 of 2002 and Act No. 12 of 2003). It contains some important safeguards against statelessness, however, gaps remain, including the granting of nationality for children born to stateless parents. Statelessness has been identified as a concern to UNHCR mainly regarding the migrant population that came into Zimbabwe from neighbouring countries (Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia) as farm and mine workers during the colonial period. This population group was negatively affected by multiple changes in nationality laws in Zimbabwe, especially in the period between 1963 and 2003. It is estimated that, at the height of agricultural expansion, between 20 and 30 per cent of up to 2.5 million farm workers in Zimbabwe were of foreign ancestry. Based on these numbers, and taking into account that some of these persons have already resolved their nationality issues, UNHCR estimates that 300,000 persons may be at risk of statelessness. Despite the gravity of the situation, the Government lacks information on the scope of the problem and offers limited protection to the affected persons. II. ACHIEVEMENTS AND POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS Positive developments linked to 1st cycle UPR recommendations Linked to 1st cycle UPR recommendation no. 93.10: “Ensure Zimbabwe’s Human Rights Commission has the resources and independence to carry out its mandate in accordance with Paris Principles (Australia)” and no. 93.19: “Enact as soon as possible the statute of the Human Rights Commission to make it operational (Switzerland).” In the last cycle, Government of Zimbabwe agreed to provide the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission with adequate financial and technical capacity and to take concrete steps to ensure its independence, transparency and impartiality, and to enact as soon as possible the statute of the human rights commission to make it operational. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission was established in 2010 and amplified by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Act Chapter 10:30 (2/2012). The Commission is mandated to, inter alia, promote, monitor and protect human rights. Since the last reporting cycle, the Commission has become fully operational and is carrying out key areas of its mandate. In order to address the issue of statelessness in Zimbabwe, UNHCR partnered with the Commission to carry out a qualitative and quantitative study on nationality and statelessness. Additional achievements and positive developments In March 2013, a national referendum approved a new Constitution, which contains provisions that could provide the basis to prevent and reduce statelessness in Zimbabwe. For instance, Article 39 (3), which deals with revocation of citizenship, establishes that “Zimbabwean citizenship must not be revoked under this section if the person would be rendered stateless.” Article 43 of the Constitution is equally important, since it opens the door to citizenship for persons born in Zimbabwe before the Constitution entered into force where at least one of his or her parents were citizens of a country from the Southern African 2