implementation of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness”.14 14. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, “taking note of target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals, on providing legal identity for all, including birth registration”, recommended that Lesotho: “(a) Strengthen the use of mobile birth registration teams to cover remote communities and extend the birth registration process to hospitals throughout the country; (b) Strengthen its efforts to implement birth registration procedures immediately after birth and ensure the issuance of birth certificates, in particular at the community level; (c) Remove penalties for late birth registration; (d) Adopt legislative measures to prevent discriminatory rules, and provide safeguards in respect of the right to acquire nationality for all children in the State party, including foundlings, who would otherwise be stateless; (e) Collect data on stateless children in the State party; (f) Launch extensive awareness-raising programmes about the importance of birth registration and registration processes; (g) Seek technical assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UNICEF, among others, in the implementation of these recommendations”. National Law 15. The 1993 Constitution of Lesotho includes contains some important provisions on human rights, right to nationality and safeguards against statelessness.15 Articles 4 (1) (a) and (n) and (o) of the Constitution protect fundamental human rights and freedoms and Article 32 protects the rights of children and young persons: Article 4. Fundamental human rights and freedoms “(1) Whereas every person in Lesotho is entitled, whatever his race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status to fundamental human rights and freedoms, that is to say, to each and all of the following: (a) the right to life; (n) freedom from discrimination; (o) the right to equality before the law and the equal protection of the law.” Article 32. Protection of children and young persons “Lesotho shall adopt policies designed to provide that – 14 Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Lesotho (2015): https://documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G15/076/95/PDF/G1507695.pdf?OpenElement. 15 To read the Constitution of Lesotho, see http://www.unesco.org/education/edurights/media/docs/5f117d45be0d3d8ed8e573ee1db7db551ad68565.pdf. 4