Multi-Country Office (MCO) for Cote d’Ivoire – STATELESSNESS REPORT 2024 Identification and protection Cote d’Ivoire: • In 2023-2024, a national bill on statelessness, based on the African Union’s regional model law, was prepared by an interministerial technical working group with the support of the UNHCR. The bill includes the safeguards outlined in the 1954 Convention. Its implementing decree was drafted by the same group during 2024. • The Directorate of Aid and Assistance to Refugees and Stateless Persons (DAARA) has established a coordination mechanism with the consular authorities of sub-regional countries as part of the stateless status recognition procedure. This platform will facilitate exchanges and responses to applicants for stateless status who have ties to these countries, allowing them to confirm whether the applicants are their nationals. • The national commissions on stateless status, both at first instance and on appeal, have ruled on 33 cases. In 2024, seven individuals were recognized as stateless by the commissions. • 1,782 individuals at risk of statelessness have been identified, including 250 foundlings, abandoned children, and orphans. The most severe cases have been handled by the legal clinics of the Association of Women Lawyers (AFJCI). • 3,748 individuals have received legal counselling on issues related to statelessness, legal identity, and nationality. Prevention In the context of preventing statelessness for forcibly displaced populations from the central Sahel: • At the two transit sites for asylum seekers in Timalah and Niorningue (northern Côte d’Ivoire), 189 newborns have been registered and received their birth certificates. • In Benin, two mobile court hearings were held at the Banikoara Town Hall to facilitate the issuance of civil status documents to refugees, asylum seekers, and host communities in the Alibori department. • UNHCR and UNICEF advocated for refugees’ access to civil documentation in northern Ghana, which resulted in the issuance of 44 birth certificates. • In Togo, 64 birth certificates were issued to refugee students to facilitate their school enrolment. Advocacy efforts continue to ensure that forcibly displaced children can access education without having to present their birth certificates. www.unhcr.org 4