In January, UNHCR and the Executive Secretariat of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) commenced a study on displacement, statelessness and solutions in the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region. The study will assess the risk of statelessness among protracted refugee populations and explore their prospects for durable solutions. The findings and recommendations will contribute to the development of a comprehensive strategy for displaced persons and support implementation of the Consolidated Action Plan on the Eradication of Statelessness in the Great Lakes region. The study is in line with pledges made by the ICGLR Secretariat and individual member States at the 2019 High Level Segment on Statelessness and the Global Refugee Forum. Thandeka Chauke and Tshegofatso Mothapo of Lawyers for Human Rights trained community journalists in Mpumalanga with Save the Children South Africa and Inter News. © UNHCR From September to December 2020, UNHCR and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child conducted a pilot learning course on the eradication of childhood statelessness in the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region. The course was designed to reinforce the engagement of civil society actors and national human rights institutions in efforts to prevent and resolve childhood statelessness. journalists on the causes and consequences of statelessness. In March, LHR co-hosted a workshop with the South African Judicial Education Institution on the role that the Children’s Court can play to eradicate childhood statelessness. Over 140 magistrates from across South Africa participated. On 9 March, UNHCR and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) conducted a parliamentary briefing on statelessness in South Africa before the Home Affairs Ministry. UNHCR and LHR made recommendations on accession to the UN Statelessness Conventions; access to citizenship and birth registration; the development of a National Action Plan; and the establishment of a statelessness determination procedure. On 10 February, in South Africa, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) published an open letter to the President calling for an inclusive approach to the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out and the avoidance of discrimination against undocumented persons and stateless persons. The Southern African Nationality Network, together with LHR, also called on member States of the Southern African Development Community to include stateless persons in COVID-19 vaccine plans, highlighting the vulnerability and risk of exclusion of such persons. UNHCR, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Social Affairs of the Republic of Congo hosted two training sessions to raise awareness of statelessness. A two-day event accommodated 50 law students in Brazzaville in February while an event in March urged 60 local journalists to mobilize in support of the eradication of statelessness in the country. On 17 February, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and Save the Children South Africa, with the support of Inter News, co-hosted a training for community 3

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