F KHAN PER / PELJ 2020 (23) 7 situations where persons are deprived of their rights associated with nationality, where a person's nationality is contested or disputed, or where a person is unable to prove his or her nationality.44 It is evident that, where citizenship is disputed or where the person is unable to prove nationality, the person is considered to be at risk of statelessness. A resolution to the person's status will require a statelessness determination, which poses substantial challenges. It will require an understanding of the national citizenship laws of other jurisdictions.45 Both de facto and de jure stateless persons are in need of protection. O'Malley and Van Waas argue that the issue of statelessness should be brought under the mantle of ''responsibility to protect".46 The 1961 Convention arose to provide solutions to statelessness which the 1954 Convention did not provide. It does this by outlining measures to diminish the incidence of statelessness at birth and by demarcating the boundaries within which statelessness could occur. Goodwin-Gill, a leading scholar on statelessness, points out that the 1961 Convention places an obligation on states to grant nationality in certain instances, even though it does not recognise an outright right to a nationality. 47 This urges states to grant nationality to children born on its territory who would otherwise be stateless.48 Regrettably, both Statelessness Conventions are plagued by low levels of ratification.49 For example, South Africa has not ratified either of these Conventions. 4 Citizenship as a human right in international law According to Goodwin-Gill, statelessness was perceived by many as a mere technical problem, yet statelessness is indeed a broad human rights issue, even as it retains a distinct technical dimension.50 He is of the view that stateless persons can receive better protection from states if the right to nationality is perceived from a human rights perspective.51 This viewpoint proposes that, if the 1954 and 1961 Conventions cannot adequately protect 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 Van Waas "UN Statelessness Conventions" 66. Van Waas "UN Statelessness Conventions" 66. See O'Malley 2015 https://www.e-ir.info/2015/06/14/statelessness-a-responsibilityto-protect/; and Van Waas 2007 NQHR. Goodwin-Gill "Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons" 378. Article 1 of the 1961 Convention. According to UNHCR, there were 83 states party to the 1954 Convention and 61 states party to the 1961 Convention in November 2014 when the Campaign to End Statelessness in 10 Years was launched. Goodwin-Gill "Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons" 378. Goodwin-Gill "Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons" 378.