PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
UN: UN refugee agency launches campaign to eliminate statelessness within 10 years
New York, US(PANA) - The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has launched a global campaign aimed
at ending, within a decade, the problem of statelessness – a legal limbo for the more than 10
million people worldwide who lack a nationality and the human rights protections that go with it.
The UNHCR, in a statement on Wednesday, said it partnered with the United Coloors of Benetton to create the "I Belong" campaign which aims to draw global attention to the life-long
consequences of statelessness.
In the statement, which detailed the initiative, the UN agency stated that every 10 minutes, a
baby is born stateless and since they are not allowed a nationality, these children are often
denied the rights and services that countries normally offer their citizens.
It said 27 countries currently deny women the right to pass their nationality onto their children
on an equal basis as men, which can create chains of statelessness spanning generations.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Antonio Guterres, said: "Statelessness makes
people feel like their very existence is a crime", noting that most situations of statelessness
are due to discrimination based on ethnicity, religion or gender.
He said: "We have a historic opportunity to end the scourge of statelessness within 10 years,
and give back hope to millions of people. We cannot afford to fail this challenge."
The statement also said that, in conjunction with the launch, Mr. Guterres, along with UNHCR
Special Envoy and US actress, Ms. Angelina Jolie, and more than 20 celebrities and world
opinion leaders, stressed in an open letter that 60 years after the UN first agreed to protect
stateless people, "now it's time to end statelessness itself."
They stated: "Statelessness can mean a life without education, without medical care or legal
employment. It can mean a life without the ability to move freely, without prospects, or hope.
Statelessness is inhuman."
The open letter will become an online petition on the campaign's website, which, along with
the creative content, was developed by Benetton.
The aim is to collect 10 million signatures in support of ending statelessness within 10 years.
Ms. Jolie, who was among the first to sign the open letter, said: "Being stateless means you
and your children having no legal identity, no passport, no vote, and few or no opportunities
to get an education."
"Ending statelessness would right these terrible wrongs. But it would also strengthen
society in countries where stateless people are found, by making it possible to draw on their
energy and talents. It is both an obligation and an opportunity for governments everywhere
to put an end to this exclusion," she said.
Additional signatories to the open letter include, among others, Mr. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein,
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Anthony Lake, Executive Director of the UN
Children's Fund (UNICEF), Ms. Helen Clark, Administrator of the UN Development Programme
(UNDP) and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
UNHCR also released a Special Report on Ending Statelessness within 10 Years, which
highlighted the human impact of the phenomenon, and a 10-point Global Action Plan to End
Statelessness that aims to resolve major existing crises and to ensure that no child is born
stateless in the future.
The report said that, despite some progress, new risks of statelessness have emerged as a result of growing numbers of major conflicts worldwide.
It noted that the wars in the Central African Republic and Syria, for example, have forced
millions of people into internal displacement or into becoming refugees.
In addition, tens of thousands of children have been born in exile, and UNHCR is working
closely with the governments and partners in countries receiving refugees on prioritizing birth registration for those children.
The UNHCR said that, while issues of statelessness remain politically contentious in some countries, in others ending it can be as simple as changing a few words in a country's citizenship law.
It also said over the past decade, 4 million stateless people have been able to acquire a national or have their nationality confirmed as a result of legislative and policy changes.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the 1954 UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which, along with the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, provides the international legal basis for ending statelessness.
As of 4 November, there were 83 state parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and 61 to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
Just three years ago, there were barely 100 States parties to the two statelessness treaties, the statement noted.
-0- PANA AA/VAO 5Nov2014
at ending, within a decade, the problem of statelessness – a legal limbo for the more than 10
million people worldwide who lack a nationality and the human rights protections that go with it.
The UNHCR, in a statement on Wednesday, said it partnered with the United Coloors of Benetton to create the "I Belong" campaign which aims to draw global attention to the life-long
consequences of statelessness.
In the statement, which detailed the initiative, the UN agency stated that every 10 minutes, a
baby is born stateless and since they are not allowed a nationality, these children are often
denied the rights and services that countries normally offer their citizens.
It said 27 countries currently deny women the right to pass their nationality onto their children
on an equal basis as men, which can create chains of statelessness spanning generations.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Antonio Guterres, said: "Statelessness makes
people feel like their very existence is a crime", noting that most situations of statelessness
are due to discrimination based on ethnicity, religion or gender.
He said: "We have a historic opportunity to end the scourge of statelessness within 10 years,
and give back hope to millions of people. We cannot afford to fail this challenge."
The statement also said that, in conjunction with the launch, Mr. Guterres, along with UNHCR
Special Envoy and US actress, Ms. Angelina Jolie, and more than 20 celebrities and world
opinion leaders, stressed in an open letter that 60 years after the UN first agreed to protect
stateless people, "now it's time to end statelessness itself."
They stated: "Statelessness can mean a life without education, without medical care or legal
employment. It can mean a life without the ability to move freely, without prospects, or hope.
Statelessness is inhuman."
The open letter will become an online petition on the campaign's website, which, along with
the creative content, was developed by Benetton.
The aim is to collect 10 million signatures in support of ending statelessness within 10 years.
Ms. Jolie, who was among the first to sign the open letter, said: "Being stateless means you
and your children having no legal identity, no passport, no vote, and few or no opportunities
to get an education."
"Ending statelessness would right these terrible wrongs. But it would also strengthen
society in countries where stateless people are found, by making it possible to draw on their
energy and talents. It is both an obligation and an opportunity for governments everywhere
to put an end to this exclusion," she said.
Additional signatories to the open letter include, among others, Mr. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein,
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Anthony Lake, Executive Director of the UN
Children's Fund (UNICEF), Ms. Helen Clark, Administrator of the UN Development Programme
(UNDP) and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
UNHCR also released a Special Report on Ending Statelessness within 10 Years, which
highlighted the human impact of the phenomenon, and a 10-point Global Action Plan to End
Statelessness that aims to resolve major existing crises and to ensure that no child is born
stateless in the future.
The report said that, despite some progress, new risks of statelessness have emerged as a result of growing numbers of major conflicts worldwide.
It noted that the wars in the Central African Republic and Syria, for example, have forced
millions of people into internal displacement or into becoming refugees.
In addition, tens of thousands of children have been born in exile, and UNHCR is working
closely with the governments and partners in countries receiving refugees on prioritizing birth registration for those children.
The UNHCR said that, while issues of statelessness remain politically contentious in some countries, in others ending it can be as simple as changing a few words in a country's citizenship law.
It also said over the past decade, 4 million stateless people have been able to acquire a national or have their nationality confirmed as a result of legislative and policy changes.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the 1954 UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which, along with the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, provides the international legal basis for ending statelessness.
As of 4 November, there were 83 state parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and 61 to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
Just three years ago, there were barely 100 States parties to the two statelessness treaties, the statement noted.
-0- PANA AA/VAO 5Nov2014
