BANJUL PLAN OF ACTION OF THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS) ON THE ERADICATION OF STATELESSNESS 2017 – 2024 CONTEXT: Globally, millions of people including hundreds of thousands in West Africa are not considered nationals by any State and are thus stateless, which limits their enjoyment of the full range of human rights. Among the causes of statelessness in West Africa are gaps in nationality laws and policies that leave some people without recognition of the nationality of any State. Even though there is no comprehensive legal framework to address these gaps, significant efforts have been made by ECOWAS Member States to respond to the issue, by amongst others, acceding to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and/or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness in the Region. Likewise, the Authority of Heads of State and Government has adopted Protocols further to the Revised Treaty of ECOWAS which address some dimensions of statelessness including the 1979 Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, the Right of Residence and Establishment and the 1982 Protocol relating to the definition of a Community Citizen. The Abidjan Declaration is a historical instrument and a milestone in the fight against statelessness in West Africa. The Declaration was adopted during the first Ministerial Conference on Statelessness in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, jointly organized by ECOWAS and UNHCR in February 2015. The Abidjan Declaration recognizes that statelessness is a significant issue in the region and sets out 25 specific measures, primarily addressed to ECOWAS Member States, on how to put an end to statelessness by 2024. The conference also resulted in the adoption of 62 recommendations on how to implement the commitments made. The Abidjan Declaration was endorsed by all Heads of States in May 2015 in Accra, Ghana, during the ECOWAS Summit. The ECOWAS Plan of Action on Eradication of Statelessness 2017-2024 is based on the commitments and recommendations made in the Abidjan Declaration, the Conclusions and Recommendations and in the Communiqué, and therefore strictly follows the