An Evaluation of Pledges to Eradicate Statelessness in the SADC circumstances where critical rights are violated. However, Article 5 of the African Charter makes provision for the right to the recognition of one’s legal status. Article 6 of the 1999 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (hereafter “African Children’s Charter”) provides for the right to be registered immediately after birth, asserts that every child has the right to a nationality, and underscore that states have the responsibility to ensure that children born within their territory, who are not granted the nationality of another state, acquire nationality. The African Children’s Charter, however, does not make provision for the right to a nationality of origin. The 2005 Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (hereafter “Protocol on the Rights of Women”), in Article 6(g)-(h), guarantees both men’s and women’s rights to acquire the nationality of their partner and transmit it to their children. Therefore, the Protocol on the Rights of Women reinforces that African women have the right to gain a nationality and to acquire the nationality of their husbands and supplements the degree of protection. In 2013, the ACHPR adopted a resolution on the right to a nationality, which delegated the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced Persons to undertake a study on nationality laws in Africa. The “Right to Nationality in Africa” was published in 2014 (AU, 2014). The findings of the study reiterated the urgent need to develop a further Protocol to the African Charter to address the various issues of nationality and statelessness in Africa. On 17 February 2024, almost 10 years later, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights relating to the Specific Aspects of the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa (hereafter “Nationality and Statelessness Protocol”) was adopted by the ACHPR in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The adoption of this Protocol was truly revolutionary for the African continent and a step in the right direction to end statelessness in Africa. This Protocol is now a binding document, and the objectives of the Protocol are laid out in Article 2: Promote, protect and ensure respect for the right to a nationality in Africa; Ensure that statelessness in Africa is prevented and eradicated; Determine the general principles for the prevention, the elimination of the risk of statelessness and eradication of statelessness in Africa; and Promote the aspirations of the African people for an African citizenship. State parties to the African Charter are encouraged to sign and ratify the Nationality and Statelessness Protocol to facilitate its entry into force. Beyond regional efforts, the eradication of statelessness receives institutional support through global initiatives. INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS TO ERADICATE STATELESSNESS In the last 10 years, there have been great efforts to eradicate statelessness. The UNHCR’s Global Action Campaign to Eradicate Statelessness, known as the IBelong campaign and that ran from 2014 to 2024, brought to light the issue of statelessness. Many of the SADC countries have taken steps to amend the gaps in their legislation 119