Rights, Articles 7 and 8 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Articles 1 to 3 of
the UN Convention on the Nationality of Married Women, Article 9 of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the UN Convention on the
Reduction of Statelessness;
Recalling that persons arbitrarily deprived of nationality are protected by the Convention
Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, the UN Convention relating
to the Status of Stateless Persons, the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and
the Protocol thereto;
Expressing its deep concern at the arbitrary denial or deprivation of the nationality of persons
or groups of persons by African states, especially as a result of discrimination on grounds of
race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and
social origin, fortune, birth or other status;
Regretting the failure of African states to ensure that all children are registered at birth;
Convinced that it is in the general interest of the people of Africa for all African States to
recognise, guarantee and facilitate the right to nationality of every person on the continent
and to ensure that no one is exposed to statelessness;
Reaffirms that the right to nationality of every human person is a fundamental human right
implied within the provisions of Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples'
Rights and essential to the enjoyment of other fundamental rights and freedoms under the
Charter;
Calls upon African States to refrain from taking discriminatory nationality measures and to
repeal laws which deny or deprive persons of their nationality on grounds of race, ethnic
group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social
origin, fortune, birth or other status, especially if such measures and laws render a person
stateless;
Calls upon African States to observe minimum procedural standards so that decisions
concerning the recognition, acquisition, deprivation or change of nationality do not contain
any elements of arbitrariness, and are subject to review by an impartial tribunal in accordance
with their obligations under Article 7 of the African Charter;
Also calls upon African States to adopt and implement provision in their constitutional and
other legislation with a view to preventing and reducing statelessness, consistent with
fundamental principles of international law and Article 6 of the African Charter on the Rights
and Welfare of the Child, article 6 (g)(h)in particular by:
a. Recognising that all children have the right to the nationality of the State where they were
born if they would otherwise be stateless;
b. Prohibiting arbitrary denial or deprivation of nationality;
c. Reaffirming the equal rights of men and women and persons of any race or ethnic group in
respect of nationality; and