Liberia, 25 February 2016 (LRRRC-UNHCR) – Today, the Government of Liberia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees celebrate the first anniversary of the Abidjan Declaration on Statelessness, in which the 16 ECOWAS States signed and committed to putting in place all measures to reduce and eradicate statelessness in the region. A stateless person is an individual that no State recognizes as a citizen according to its laws and does not enjoy all the rights that nationals have. Nationality is often essential for the full enjoyment of human rights, including access to education, freedom of movement, health services and legal services, and its absence causes an impact on the individuals, their families, communities and countries.



Whilst 10 million persons in the world do not have a nationality, in West Africa the number is estimated to be 1 million. With discriminatory provisions within nationality laws, weak registration and data collection systems, many persons fall within the statelessness gap and live their entire life being invisible to the State.



Liberia has shown full commitment in eradicating and preventing statelessness. Liberia has since 1986 amended her constitution to ensure that women can pass on their nationality to their children as their men. However, discriminatory provisions in the Aliens and Nationality Law poses a contradiction that in practice makes Liberia one of the 27 countries in the world that still has laws that could prevent women from passing their nationality to their children in the same manner as men would. This added to the fact that approximately 7.7% (Unicef Report, 2013) of children born in Liberia are registered at birth, has left many children (around 92%) and adults either stateless or at risk of being stateless.



Last year, ECOWAS countries held a regional Ministerial Conference in Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) to discuss possible solutions for stateless persons (or those at risk) in West Africa. The Abidjan Declaration was endorsed by all heads of State, including Liberia’s President Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, during the 47th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State held in Accra, Ghana on 19 May 2015. Liberia has acceded to the two conventions on Statelessness and the Abidjan Declaration, and seeks to make the necessary changes in laws and policies to reduce and prevent statelessness in the country.



Statelessness is a human rights and security issue. ECOWAS Member States have formally joined UNHCR’s 10 year global campaign to eradicate statelessness by 2024. Amongst other commitments, member states have agreed to drafting and endorsing a national plan of action, acceding to and implementing international Conventions on statelessness, and to reviewing their laws on nationality. Liberia has made very significant progress so far.



Statelessness is a serious issue, but it is also overlooked, especially in countries where documentation is not often required for many transactions. Many of the stateless persons do not realize the importance of having a nationality until it is very late. For this reason, the government of Liberia and UNHCR call upon the general public to become aware and help sensitize the entire population so that those who have lived in the shadows of statelessness can feel they belong in Liberia.



The Abidjan Declaration can be downloaded from: http://www.refworld.org/docid/54f588df4.html

The general public is invited to sign the open letter as a manner of supporting the fight against statelessness. To sign the open letter, go to ibelong.unhcr.org