Persons at risk of statelessness
In the context of the global #Ibelong campaign to eradicate statelessness by 2024, UNHCR provided technical and financial support to the Government of Burkina Faso for the issuance of 185,450 civil status/identity documents and certificates of nationality to people whose births were not declared to the civil registry and who might be at risk of statelessness.
With regards to the improvement of the legal and institutional framework, UNHCR's advocacy led the Government to approve a draft law revising the law on civil status and nationality, a draft law on the status of stateless persons, and a draft regulatory text on procedures for determining the status of stateless persons. With the same objective in mind, UNHCR funded the deployment/implementation of the digital birth registration system called "icivil" in 37 health facilities in the Sahel region.
To make civil registry services more effective and efficient, 120 Government officials were trained on the issue of statelessness, procedures for managing civil registry services, and procedures for issuing birth certificates during humanitarian emergencies.
UNHCR has also provided support to the Government to produce quantitative data on the risk of statelessness through the general population and housing census conducted in 2020. The aim is to determine the number of people whose births have not been declared to the civil registry and who may be at risk of statelessness.
2020