Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 40th Session of the Universal Periodic Review. Zimbabwe Introduction 1. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights1 and the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion2 make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), on the right to a nationality and human rights challenges pertaining to statelessness in Zimbabwe. 2. This submission focuses on: I. II. III. IV. V. Birth Registration, civil documentation, and (risks of) statelessness Children’s right to a nationality Arbitrary deprivation of nationality Descendants of migrants and risks of statelessness Lack of adequate protection of stateless persons and statelessness determination procedures Previous UPR of Zimbabwe under the First and Second Cycle 3. Zimbabwe was previously reviewed during the 12th and 26th session of the UPR in 2011 and 2016 respectively. 4. 1 During the 12th session, Zimbabwe received the following recommendations: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) is a not for profit human rights organisation whose core objective is to foster a culture of human rights in Zimbabwe as well as to encourage the growth and strengthening of human rights at all levels of Zimbabwean society through observance of the rule of law. ZLHR is committed to upholding the unimpeded administration of justice, the free flow of information, respect for the rule of law, and the protection of constitutional rights and freedoms in Zimbabwe and the surrounding region. For more information, see https://www.zlhr.org.zw. 2 The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) is the first and only human rights NGO dedicated to working on statelessness at the global level. ISI’s mission is to promote inclusive societies by realising and protecting everyone’s right to a nationality. The Institute has made over 80 country specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons. ISI has also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 38th UPR Sessions. For more information, see https://www.institutesi.org/.