© UNHCR / S. Jambazishvili-Yucer
Naturalization ceremony in Turkmenistan.
On Action 2 (Ensure that no child is born stateless),
UNHCR launched a new Good Practices Paper. Only
if statelessness among children is addressed will
the objective of the Global Action Plan – to end all
statelessness by 2024 – be fully realized. The goal
of Action 2 is to ensure that by 2024 all States have
provisions in law to grant nationality to (i) children born
in their territory who do not acquire another nationality
at birth, (ii) children of unknown origin found on their
territory, and (iii) children born to their nationals abroad
who do not obtain another nationality at birth.
On Action 7 (Ensure birth registration for the prevention
of statelessness), in February, in Senegal, a Presidential
decree ordered the issuance of late birth registration
free of charge. Over 20% of individuals in Senegal,
including 30% of children below the age of 5, do not have
a birth certificate.
In Kenya, the government issued a total of 4704 birth
certificates to persons of concern, of which 3978
were issued under late birth registration procedures.
Implementing partners supported the mobile registration
processes in Kibera, Kilifi and Kwale.
With respect to Action 3 (Remove gender discrimination
from nationality laws), on 25 January, the President
of the Republic of Madagascar promulgated a historic
amendment to the nationality code. The new law gives
men and women equal rights to pass on Madagascan
nationality to their children. In addition, the loss of
Madagascan nationality no longer affects the concerned
person’s spouse and children.
With respect to Action 9 (Accede to the UN
Statelessness Conventions), on 9 February, in
Luxembourg, a law approving accession to the 1961
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness was
adopted by a large majority of the Luxembourg
Parliament. Luxembourg will become party to the
Convention when it deposits its instrument of accession.
During the same session, the Luxembourg Parliament
adopted a law that facilitates the acquisition of
nationality for stateless persons and aims at preventing
statelessness in relation to attribution, renunciation and
deprivation of nationality. On 22 March, Haiti’s Parliament
voted to have the government of Haiti accede to both
Statelessness Conventions. When Haiti deposits its
instruments, it will bring the total number of States Parties
to the 1954 Convention to 90 and the 1961 Convention to
69.
On 8 February, in Benin, the Council of Ministers
approved a new Bill on the nationality code. The Bill aims
at removing discriminatory provisions from the nationality
legislation to make it gender equal. The review of Benin’s
existing nationality legislation started in 2005; the new
Bill has now reached the National Assembly, where it is
yet to be approved.
On Action 6 (Grant protection status to stateless
migrants and facilitate their naturalization), on 9
January, Ecuador passed a new Human Mobility
Law. Through this legislation stateless persons who
are recognized as such will acquire temporary lawful
residence status and enjoy the right to work, to
health care, and to social security benefits. The Law
also mandates the establishment of a statelessness
determination procedure and facilitated naturalization for
stateless persons.
In line with Action 10 (Improve quantitative and
qualitative data on stateless populations) UNHCR
launched, on 15 December, in Stockholm, a study
Mapping Statelessness in Sweden. The mapping study
highlights both positive efforts to prevent and reduce
statelessness in Sweden and to protect stateless
persons, as well as current gaps and challenges in these
areas. The study makes concrete recommendations
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