COMMUNIQUÉ The West Africa Consultative Conference on ‘the Right to a Nationality and Statelessness: Challenges and Opportunities’, co-organised by Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was held at Ivotel Hotel in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 28-30 September 2015. The Consultative Conference followed the Ministerial Conference on Statelessness for the Member States of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) held from 23-25 February 2015 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in the context of the global 10-year Campaign to End Statelessness, and resulted in the Ministerial Declaration on the eradication of statelessness in the ECOWAS region, referred to as the ‘Abidjan Declaration.’ In this Declaration, approved by ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in Accra, Ghana on 19th May 2015, signatory States made important commitments in order to eradicate statelessness in West Africa. The aim of the Consultative Conference was to review, 6 months after the adoption of the Abidjan Declaration, actions undertaken by States to implement the commitments, to follow up on these, and to discuss future approaches. The Conference brought together around 80 participants mainly from the West African region, including government representatives, representatives of NHRIs, subject-matter experts, academics, civil society, the media, regional networks and representatives from ECOWAS and the UN system, in particular UNHCR. Upon reviewing the progress made by States 6 months after the adoption of the Abidjan Declaration, participants welcomed notable achievements, including:  The official nomination of national focal points for issues relating to statelessness in seven (7) States (commitment 22)  The development of national action plans in four (4) States, two of which have been approved at the ministerial level (commitment 24)  The initiation of procedures to accede to the international conventions relating to statelessness in three (3) States (commitments 4 and 14)  Studies commissioned on statelessness in two (2) States (commitment 1)  The approval of a draft Protocol on Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (commitment 5). 1