Atuguba et al. The importance of statelessness on the African Continent is exhibited in the initiatives of organizations such as the Pan African Citizens Network (PACIN), a Kenyan-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) that takes a keen interest in the “African Citizen” and her ability to live a peaceful and fulfilling life (PACIN 2019). On October 31, 2017, the group commemorated the 61st Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) with a program themed “30 Years On: Innovation or Necessity? A Case Study of How the ACHPR Has Addressed Gaps in Rights Protection on the Right to a Nationality.” The program examined regional efforts toward improving the right to a nationality, eradicating statelessness in West Africa and East Africa, the stakes of youth in matters of statelessness, the right to nationality, and continental trends in gender discrimination by nationality. On the larger global front, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to assist states to provide international protection to those in need of asylum and to support durable solutions for refugees. The UNHCR also has a mandate to provide protection to stateless persons and prevent situations of statelessness. Around the world, 60 percent of stateless persons are children. According to the UNHCR, the problem of statelessness has a devastating impact on the lives of at least 1 million people in West Africa (Odeyemi 2017). The first ministerial subregional conference on statelessness in West Africa was held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in February 2015. The two statelessness conventions are the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. These two treaties form the foundation of the international legal framework to address statelessness. Ghana committed to accede to the two statelessness conventions, but by the end of 2019, it had not done so. This is the case even though heads of state and governments of member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopted the Abidjan Declaration on May 19, 2015, in Accra, Ghana, under the chairmanship of Ghana’s former president, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama. At the time of this study, Ghana and Togo were the only ECOWAS states not to accede to either of the two conventions (Folley 2018). Notwithstanding that Ghana is yet to accede to the two conventions and has no laws on statelessness, its 15 citizenship laws are very progressive. Gaps exist in citizenship legislation, however, and there are flaws in the administrative practices of key state institutions, which increase the risk of statelessness. In addition, lack of proper documentation of births and deaths, administrative errors, and the wrongful exercise of executive discretion have rendered residents stateless. This article offers a comprehensive assessment of the legal, policy, institutional, and administrative frameworks, and the processes and practices affecting access to nationality in Ghana, with the ultimate aim of identifying the causes, risk factors, and consequences of statelessness. It also recommends measures or actions necessary to prevent or reduce statelessness in Ghana. Methodology for the Study The study used both primary and secondary data. The methods used for this study included an initial key stakeholders’ meeting, a literature review, and field interviews. Details of the primary data collected are discussed below. Field Interviews The research team conducted interviews with officials at relevant ministries, departments, agencies, and other entities.2 These included relevant officials of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, the Department of Social Welfare, the Ghana Statistical Service, the Births and Deaths Registry, the Legal Aid Scheme, the Ghana Refugee Board, the National Identification Authority, the Passport Office, the Ghana Immigration Service, the Ghana Education Service, and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), as well as officials of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), the Electoral Commission (EC), the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), and the Ghana Police Service. We interviewed officials from these different state agencies because in one way or another, people who are affected by or at risk of statelessness seek their services. Officials of the UNHCR Representation in Ghana, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the 2 Interviews for the study took place from November 2016 to April 2017.

Select target paragraph3