9. the various relevant actors make contact with State experts who are to participate in
meetings of the Special Technical Committee (STC) on legal and judicial affairs that
will examine the draft protocol, in order to sensitize them on the important aspects of
the draft protocol, preferably one or two months before its first meeting;
10. the national focal points make contact with the designated experts in order to inform
them of the commitments contained in the Abidjan Declaration that pertain to the right
to nationality and the eradication of statelessness;
11. civil society actors and NHRIs raise awareness among state ministries, departments
and agencies working on questions of nationality and statelessness about the essential
points of the draft protocol.
On data collection related to statelessness
In relation to the Abidjan Declaration’s recommendations 17 and 158 on the need to improve
information and data collection about stateless, participants recommend that:
12. ECOWAS and UNHCR develop standard methodologies to guide studies conducted
on statelessness in Member States;
13. ECOWAS encourage Member States to identify as soon as possible stateless persons
on their territory, in coordination with the relevant national institutions, UNHCR, civil
society and academics. These activities should include the following:
a. use of the various relevant national institutions in order to gather data on
people who are undocumented (including schools, immigration authorities,
legal and paralegal clinics, etc.);
b. awareness-raising among the general population to allow those concerned to
self-identify as being at risk of statelessness, and to invite them to make
contact with legal and paralegal services;
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We recognize the importance and urgency of obtaining concrete information on the causes of statelessness and
the number and the profile of stateless persons in ECOWAS Member States, as well as source of statelessness
and obstacles to acquisition of nationality by stateless persons in order to design and implement appropriate
strategies to address the phenomenon. In this effort, we urge research institutes and universities to actively
participate and call upon the international community, in particularly UNHCR, to support us;
8
We will endeavor to improve our data collection programs, in accordance with the Principles and
Recommendations for Population and Housing Censure of the United Nations, in order to systemically identify
stateless persons, while respecting the principle of confidentiality and human dignity
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