CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA \Y 8. Recommendations Recommendations to states Accessions to and implementation of UN, AU, and Arab League treaties and standards « All states covered particular the by this 1954 report Convention should take steps to accede to relevant relating to the Status of Stateless UN Persons treaties, and the in 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and to review national law and practice to ensure it is compliant with their requirements, based on UNHCR’s Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, Guidelines on Statelesness No. 4 on Prevention of Childhood Statelessness, and Guidelines on Statelessness No. 5 on Loss and Deprivation of Nationality. « Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia are already party to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, of which Article 6 deals with birth registration and the right to a name and nationality. They should review their laws and procedures in line with the General Comment on Article 6 of the Charter adopted by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 2014. In particular, all three states should incorporate into their nationality laws the provision required by Article 6(4) of the Charter that a child born in the territory shall acquire the nationality of the state of birth if not granted nationality by any other state at the time of birth. «" Somalia signed the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 1991, and should move towards accession to the treaty, and adoption in national law of the safeguards against statelessness provided in Article 6(4). " Somalia and Djibouti are member states of the Arab League and OIC. Somalia should reform its law to provide for the equal rights of men and women to transmit nationality to their children, in line with the Arab League Declaration on Women's Nationality Rights of 2017 and the Declaration on Belonging and Legal Identity of 2018. Both Somalia and Djibouti should seek to develop practical systems (considering relative state capacity) “to resolve the issue of statelessness for any child born on their territories or to any of their citizens outside their territory”, in line with the OIC Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam. An integrated approach to nationality systems There is a need to address nationality and statelessness from a systemic perspective, seeking to put in place coherent initiatives nationality for all both on documentation in theory and and in practice, identity and management that provide that provide access identity documentation to a to all. In particular, efforts to upgrade identification systems should include analysis of the legal and procedural gaps that lead some to be excluded and perhaps ultimately rendered stateless. Procedures for recognition and registration of status should be designed to respect basic rules of due process, including independent oversight and judicial appeal of administrative decisions, and documentation initiatives are (as nationals) of those who undertaken the improve have registration and to allow for the integration no plausible connection and recognition of legal to any other state. As identity, the following recommendations should be taken into account. UNHCR — December 2021 77