High Commissioner Filippo Grandi gives his final remarks at the High-Level Officials Meeting in December 2021. © UNHCR/Mark Henley
On 29 October, DIP published a factsheet on
the risks of statelessness associated with
migration and displacement in the context of
climate change. The factsheet broadens the existing
understanding of risks of statelessness in the
context of climate change and elaborates on the
impact of climate change on stateless populations.
Events were organized across the globe to
commemorate the 7th anniversary of the #IBelong
Campaign. On 3 November in Turkmenistan,
UNHCR delivered an online lecture on nationality
and statelessness for the SDG Youth Ambassadors
and university students. In Togo, UNHCR and the
National Assembly organized an information session
on statelessness for 80 Members of Parliament on
5 November, which was an opportunity to advocate
for the acceleration of law reform to remove sex
discrimination from the nationality law. In Zambia,
the Office of the Commissioner for Refugees, the
National Registration Passport and Citizenship
Office and UNHCR organized a ceremony in Lusaka
to distribute birth certificates. During the event,
which was attended by various media houses, the
government emphasized the importance of birth
registration and identity documents.
On 7 December, in East Africa, UNHCR organized a
side event on the margins of its regional dialogue on
refugee protection with the East African Community
and Intergovernmental Authority on Development
to launch UNHCR’s report “Citizenship and
Statelessness in the Horn of Africa”. The report
identifies the risk factors in law, policy and practice
that give rise to statelessness and provides an
overview of the groups at risk of statelessness in
Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
On 10 December, in South Sudan, members of
South Sudan’s Statelessness Working Group on
Statelessness have commenced discussions on
the reform of the Citizenship Act with a view to
introducing safeguards to prevent statelessness.
This aligns with a pledge made by the government
of South Sudan at the 2019 High-Level Segment on
Statelessness to introduce such safeguards.
In October 2021, in Somalia, the Ministry of Interior,
Federal Affairs and Reconciliation established the
Department of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics.
The new Department is tasked with accelerating and
supporting the development of the civil registration
system and the production of vital statistics
contributing to the prevention of statelessness.
UNHCR > The Campaign to End Statelessness | October – December 2021 Update
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