Atuguba et al. to a nationality was further elaborated in 2003 with the adoption of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, which acknowledges their right to acquire a nationality and, in the event of their marriage, to acquire their husbands’ nationality (ACRC 1990; Protocol 2003). The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights has addressed both general and country-specific issues related to nationality and statelessness in communications and resolutions. In its resolutions, the commission has affirmed that the right to a nationality is implied within the provisions of Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on legal status and is essential for the enjoyment of other fundamental rights and freedoms under the charter. In February 2015, government representatives in charge of nationality issues of the ECOWAS member states met in Abidjan for the subregional ministerial conference on statelessness in West Africa, jointly organized by UNHCR and ECOWAS. As a result of the conference, the ministers adopted a declaration on the eradication of statelessness, the Abidjan Declaration, in which they committed to identify and protect stateless persons as well as prevent and reduce statelessness. All heads of states in the ECOWAS region endorsed this declaration during the summit meeting held in Accra, Ghana, on May 19, 2015 (UNHCR and ECOWAS 2015). The Abidjan Declaration recognizes that statelessness is a significant issue in the region and sets out 25 measures or commitments covering prevention of statelessness, identification and protection of stateless persons, the resolution of existing situations of statelessness, and strategies and partnerships for fighting statelessness. It seeks to put an end to statelessness by 2024. The declaration seeks to ensure that all children acquire nationality at birth and recognizes the impact of gender discrimination in nationality laws. It also addresses the need to improve civil registration systems and to tackle migration as a factor in creating statelessness. The conference also resulted in the adoption of 62 recommendations on how to implement the commitments made. All ECOWAS states are parties to treaties that provide for the right to a nationality, such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (November 20, 1989), the ACRC (July 1, 1990), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (December 19, 1966), 19 and nondiscrimination treaties.7 In the civil law countries, these treaties have direct effects, and the nationality codes frequently provide that treaty provisions prevail over national law (Manby 2015). In West Africa, only Guinea Bissau provides in its constitution that every person has the right to a nationality.8 Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and Niger, however, specifically provide in their nationality codes that the terms of treaties on nationality to which the state is a party apply even if they are contradicted by national law. The Banjul Plan of Action (ECOWAS 2017) is based on the commitments and recommendations made in the Abidjan Declaration. Thus, it strictly follows the spirit of the Abidjan Declaration. The Plan of Action entails support measures that ECOWAS and UNHCR can provide to member states in accordance with Articles 22 and 25 of the Abidjan Declaration. It includes measures that ECOWAS will adopt to follow up on the requests made by member states in the Abidjan Declaration, and it spells out mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of the Abidjan Declaration. National Legal Framework on Statelessness In Ghana, the question of who is legally entitled to citizenship — meaning persons who do not have to register or naturalize to claim Ghanaian citizenship — is answered in Article 6 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which provides that (1) every person who was a citizen of Ghana at the time the Constitution became enforceable continued to be a citizen of Ghana; and (2) any person, whether born in or outside Ghana, is a citizen of Ghana if any of his parents or grandparents is or was a citizen of Ghana. Furthermore, children younger than seven years who are found within Ghana and whose parents are not known are presumed to be citizens of Ghana. Finally, children younger than sixteen years who are adopted by citizens of Ghana acquire Ghanaian citizenship. Ghana is not a signatory to and has not ratified either the 1954 UN Convention or the 1961 UN Convention on 7 The nondiscrimination treaties include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 8 Guinée-Bissau Constitution, 1984.