Tigranna Zakaryan March of 2019 through the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control.89 This effort is in line with the ICGLR member states commitment to review their nationality laws and related legislation, and align themselves with international frameworks as identified in the Declaration, more specifically the United Nations 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons90 and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.91 The objective was to establish a harmonised regional approach toward addressing issues of statelessness among ICGLR members. Uganda is party to the 1954 Convention and is in the process of considering the adoption of the 1961 Convention on Statelessness. 5. Conclusion If anything has become clear from this report, it is that the way in which Uganda currently regulates the acquisition and loss of citizenship reflects the impact of the colonial era and Uganda’s history as a British Protectorate, as well as the formation of Uganda’s government and institutions following its post-colonial era. It is equally important to acknowledge the legal debates and discourse challenging the boundaries of citizenship and belonging in Uganda as ever-changing as the Government works to institutionalize its policies and bridge legal theories with the practical approaches relevant to Uganda’s contemporary context. As this process continues to evolve, the objective of all stakeholders working to expand the access to citizenship should continue to embrace Uganda’s ethnic and cultural diversity and support the progressive integration of Uganda’s domestic citizenship laws alongside broader regional and international initiatives that support access to citizenship rights. Such efforts will ensure that citizenship does not remain symbolic, as it tends to throughout various African states. Rather, policies and practices should be spearheaded in a manner which continuously expand the right to belong to a nation, and that the social, economic, and legal benefits which are associated with the right to claim citizenship and maintain a tie to a State are enjoyed by all populations, and in this case, by all Ugandans. 89 Interview with Johanna Seidl, Citizenship Programme Coordinator, International Refugee Rights Initiative, 28 January 2019. 90 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. United Nations High Commission for Refugees. https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/wp-content/uploads/1954-Convention-relating-to-the-Status-of-StatelessPersons_ENG.pdf (accessed 24 January 2019). 91 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. United Nations High Commission for Refugees. https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/wp-content/uploads/1961-Convention-on-the-reduction-ofStatelessness_ENG.pdf (accessed 24 January 2019). 20 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/8 - © 2020 Author