Aime, a Congolese refugee child
in Mauritania, receiving his birth
certificate. © UNHCR
From April to May, UNHCR supported the
Government of Burkina Faso in holding mobile court
hearings which issued 22,000 birth certificates to
persons at risk of statelessness, with a focus on
areas hosting forcibly displaced populations. In
June, UNHCR started supporting the Government
in issuing 34,000 birth certificates to populations
at risk of statelessness in the central-eastern and
central-southern regions. In May, UNHCR handed
over equipment to the Ministry of Home Affairs to
support birth registration in border regions.
In line with Action 10, Improve quantitative
and qualitative data on stateless populations,
the Kenyan government, UNHCR and partner
organizations started preparations for the upcoming
2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census
with trainings for enumerators and sensitization
campaigns. The census is expected to improve the
identification of stateless persons in Kenya. Similarly,
in Mali, the National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT)
organized a workshop to present the questionnaire
for the upcoming census to relevant stakeholders.
UNHCR is currently working with INSTAT to include
questions on nationality and statelessness.
Myanmar is advancing a new Child Rights Bill which
is expected to include language guaranteeing
the universal right to birth registration, which the
Government plans to provide free of charge.
Finally, with regard to Action 10, workshops to
validate studies on statelessness were conducted
in a number of countries. On 10 April, a workshop
was held in Abidjan to validate the country-wide
statelessness mapping report for Côte d’Ivoire.
The report is expected to be published after
formal endorsement at the ministerial level. On 30
April, UNHCR and the Ministry of Home Affairs of
Zambia organized a workshop validating a study
on statelessness and issues relating to nationality
in Zambia. On 26 June, the qualitative study on
risks of statelessness in Mali was validated during a
workshop in Bamako organized by UNHCR.
With respect to Action 8, Issue nationality
documentation to those with entitlement to
it, UNHCR supported the governments of the
Philippines and Indonesia in recording close to
3,000 persons of Indonesian descent in Davao
City and General Santos City in the Philippines,
whose relatives are qualified to apply for a special
non-immigrant visa. The recording exercise follows
the Department of Justice Circular No. 26 Series of
2018 which granted Special Non-Immigrant Visas to
registered Indonesian nationals. The Circular aims to
protect their basic rights.
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