63. Over the past five years, Hold the Child, in collaboration with the Directorate of Civil
Registry, Nationality, Passport and Immigration (DCRNPI), UNHCR, and other
stakeholders, has supported nationality documentation for 16,336 persons at risk of
statelessness (7,657 females and 8,679 males) through UNHCR established
identification criteria. 35 Beneficiaries include the Ambororo (Fallata) communities
experiencing discrimination in Aweil and Wau; transboundary communities such as
the Madi and Acholi along the border with Uganda, the Azande along the border with
the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the Ngok Dinka of Abyei along the Sudan
border; the Nuer in Akobo and the Anyauk in Pochalla bordering Ethiopia; and
members of Raga community, many of whom face challenges related to the use of
Islamic names along the Sudan border.
64. Support has also been provided to vulnerable and low-income individuals unable to
afford the costs associated with nationality certification, Internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs), returnees who face difficulties in meeting documentation requirements,
minority groups, and school-going children. The organization has further supported
the ad hoc Technical Working Group on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS),
through which technical partnerships and resources have been mobilised to advance
key reforms and developments. These include the development of a Costed Plan for
the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System,36 civil registry regulations,37 and the
establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Council on Civil Registration.38
Recommendations
65. Based on the above information, the co-submitting organizations urge the reviewing
States to make the following recommendations to South Sudan:
I.
Immediately implement the decision of the African Commission in
Communication 801/2021: Afekuru Animu Risasi Amitai v. Republic of South
Sudan, including restoring Ms. Animu’s nationality certificate and passport
and ensuring access to effective remedies and compensation;
II.
Submit to the African Commission information on measures taken to
implement the decision in Communication 801/2021: Afekuru Animu Risasi
Amitai v. Republic of South Sudan, in accordance with Rule 125 of the
Commission's Rules of Procedure;
III.
Implement the African Commission's recommendation to provide training on
nationality rights, statelessness, and applicable human rights standards to
officials of the Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Immigration, law
enforcement agencies, and other relevant public authorities;
IV.
Allocate resources to operationalise the newly proposed Civil Registry work
flow upon which the 2025 -2030 Costed Strategic Plan for establishing a new
35 Hold the Child is one of the co-submitting organizations of this report.
36 The Costed Plan for the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System.
37 The Civil Registry Act, 2018.
38 Ibid.
13