The RRWA then provided its government counterparts in the region with technical advice and training on how to tackle statelessness. The first opportunity to do so arose in July 2011 during the annual summer course on human rights and refugee law held in Cotonou, Benin, which targets Francophone States in West and Central Africa. The course, co-organized by UNHCR and the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights in Benin, brings together NGO and governmental partners and places particular emphasis on the participation of national human rights institutions. In 2011, UNHCR began incorporating a training module on statelessness into the curriculum. Following the Regional Representative’s notes verbales and the Cotonou summer course, the RRWA encouraged UNHCR country offices in the region to promote national follow-up, particularly highlighting the December 2011 Ministerial Meeting in Geneva as an opportunity to accede to the Statelessness Conventions or pledge to do so alongside other actions to resolve statelessness in this context. An important element of this outreach was the dissemination of the internal UNHCR analysis of each country’s nationality laws in terms of compatibility with key provisions of the 1961 Statelessness Convention. In light of the positive feedback received from its government counterparts, the RRWA organized the first ever regional awareness-raising seminar on statelessness. Held in November 2011 and targeting Francophone States in the region, the seminar brought together representatives of governments, national civil society and UNHCR country offices. The workshop not only introduced and explained fundamental concepts and practice related to statelessness, but also incorporated time for important break-out sessions that allowed the representatives from each country to concretely discuss the statelessness situation in their unique national contexts and propose recommendations for action plans to resolve statelessness at the national level. The general consensus upon the seminar’s conclusion was that there was a need to improve legislative frameworks governing nationality in order to prevent statelessness throughout the region. Accepting the regional dimension of statelessness encouraged relevant actors to begin taking measures at the national level. Successful accessions campaign in Benin Benin was the first country to fulfill its pledge made at the December 2011 Ministerial Meeting to accede to both the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions. UNHCR’s Benin country office followed the accession process closely from initial discussions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and debate within the National Assembly to approval by the President and deposit of the instruments of accession, setting an example for other country offices to follow. Upon receipt of the AHC-P’s letter in March 2011 by Benin’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, a legal affairs director of this Ministry wrote to the Commission on Foreign Relations, Development Cooperation, Defense and Security of the Beninese Parliament (National Assembly) recommending that it examine the compatibility of the two Statelessness Conventions, as well as the Kampala Convention on internally displaced persons, with Beninese law. In July 2011, the Commission recommended that the Beninese Parliament approve accession to the two Statelessness Conventions. UNHCR’s country office maintained contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly to follow up on further progress regarding the Statelessness Conventions. As presidential and legislative elections were held in early 2011, UNHCR’s Country Representative waited until after the new Cabinet and National Assembly took office to meet personally with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the newly elected President of the National Assembly. In November 2011 the National Assembly adopted a law authorizing Benin’s accession to the two Statelessness Conventions which was signed by the President. In parallel, Benin pledged to accede to the two Conventions in the lead-up to the 2011 Ministerial Meeting and deposited its instruments of accession on 8 December 2011. This coincided with the second and final day of the Ministerial Meeting, sending a clear statement to all participating States of the importance of fulfilling the pledges made in this forum. 9 CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS