- To train judicial officers on how to proactively use the legal instruments on statelessness; - To strengthen their regional and sub-regional jurisdictions so as to better prevent statelessness and protect stateless persons, notably through the Law Court of ECOWAS, the African Court for Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights; - To provide legal aid to stateless persons; States - To accede to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; - To ensure the rapid entry into force of the said protocol once the 15th instrument of ratification is deposited; - To undertake to harmonize their domestic laws on citizenship with the rules of the statelessness Conventions. In particular, states must provide nationality to children born on their territories who would otherwise be stateless, as per the norms stipulated in the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and other international human rights instruments, notably the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; - To put specialized mechanisms in place for the protection of stateless persons and to create a status of stateless person similar to refugee status so as to address their urgent protection needs; - To improve birth registration. It is essential that states computerize civil status documents in order to guarantee a better maintenance of registered births. Also, in order to increase child birth registration, states must ensure that women, on an equal footing with men, can register the birth of their children; 3|Page