Banjul Appeal on Statelessness We, the participants gathered for the Regional Round Table on Statelessness in West Africa, organized in Banjul, the Gambia, on 4 -5 December 2013, by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Recalling the firm commitment of our states to the rights contained in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its protocols; Taking to heart the consequences of the balkanization of our states, born of the problematic borders generated by colonization; Bearing in mind the socio-political crises of our countries, which have created refugees and statelessness; Welcoming The growing number of accessions in West Africa to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons; The engagement of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the fight against statelessness, notably by means of its resolution 234 on the right to nationality; The efforts of UNCHR to raise awareness of statelessness in West Africa and beyond; Regretting The general lack of knowledge on statelessness by many governmental and nongovernmental actors and the public; 1|Page