13. In addition to the negative law reform, birth registration is a prerequisite to acquire Ivorian nationality via its exclusively jus sanguinis nationality regime. This means that Ivorian citizens must provide their birth certificate, and the nationality certificate of a parent, in order to obtain proof of nationality within three months. Issues of statelessness exist, especially among those who were displaced, due to difficulties they face in providing this documentation. Further, displacement also resulted in separation of children from their parents, and increased the number of children who grew up with no knowledge or evidentiary proof of their parentage.8 Efforts to address statelessness 14. In 2013, Côte d’Ivoire adopted a special temporary programme qualifying individuals to acquire Ivorian nationality by declaration.9 In 2015, the country hosted a Ministerial Conference on Statelessness for the ECOWAS region. The Abidjan Declaration on the Eradication of Statelessness was adopted as a result of this Conference.10 In 2017, the Banjul Action Plan on the Eradication of Statelessness was adopted and is now a legally binding document applicable to all ECOWAS member states.11 15. So far, Côte d’Ivoire has developed a National Action Plan to end statelessness, which however, is yet to be approved by the Government. Côte d’Ivoire has also established a statelessness focal point within the Ministry of Justice, and is conducting a mapping study of stateless persons in the country. It is important to maintain momentum to address issue of statelessness, in particular the issues described below which contribute to the large number of stateless people in the country. Lack safeguards against statelessness in nationality law 16. Articles 6 and 7 of the Ivorian Nationality Code state that any individual born in the country or abroad is Ivorian, except if both of his or her parents are foreigners. Therefore, in order to acquire Ivorian nationality at birth, at least one parent must be an Ivorian citizen. The Nationality Code is highly restrictive. It excludes a large number of individuals born in Côte d’Ivoire of unknown filiation and does not protect otherwise stateless children born in the territory to foreign or stateless parents. Further, there are big concerns about the inability of parents to prove that they are citizens, due to the lack of identity documents, further exacerbating (risks of) childhood statelessness. These risks will be further elaborated on below, in the section on civil registration. 17. Prior to the 1972 amendments, foundlings could acquire Ivorian nationality by origin as they were presumed to have been born in the country. However, amendments to the Ivorian Nationality Code in 1972 repealed the provision on acquisition of nationality for foundlings. 8 Parker, Foundlings in Côte d’Ivoire, The World’s Stateless - Children, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, January 2017, p. 369, http://www.institutesi.org/worldsstateless17.pdf. 9 UNHCR, Statelessness and Nationality in Côte d’Ivoire – A study for UNHCR, December 2016, http://www.refworld.org/docid/58594d114.html. 10 https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/54536. 11 http://www.unhcr.org/protection/statelessness/591c38347/statelessness-conference-2017-banjul-plan-action-english.html. 4