Monday, 24 October 2016 ( 09:00-10:30)
INTRODUCTION
1. As part of the celebration of the year 2016 as “African Year of Human Rights with Particular Focus on the Rights of Women”, the 59th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) will take a format that is different from its usual format. As such, Special Mechanisms have been requested to organise panel discussions on their respective mandates, laying particular emphasis on the rights of women.
2. Within the framework of her mandate, the Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons and Migrants in Africa, Honourable Commissioner Maya Sahli Fadel, in collaboration with the Department of Political and Humanitarian Affairs of the African Union (AU), and with the support of partners such as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) will organise a session on the theme: “Nationality and the Fight against Statelessness: Issues and Consequences”.
Proposed format of the panel discussion
3. The panel discussion will begin with an introductory session presenting the Special Mechanism and its activities, with particular emphasis on refugees and migrants, in particular the recent migration crises involving African migrants and the various activities undertaken by the Special Mechanism in the past years and especially regarding statelessness and nationality.
4. A five-minute video on statelessness and the importance of nationality will be shown, after which victims of statelessness or persons who have experienced statelessness will give testimonies. At the end of the testimonies, the Moderator will open the floor for discussions and participants will be called upon to ask questions to the panelists and make other contributions.
Documentary
5. Projection of a video with a summary of the theme of statelessness and its relationship with the various situations (internal displacement, refugees and migrants) and the importance of nationality in the effective enjoyment of individual rights.
Testimonies
6. In order to make the audience aware of the concrete reality of the problem, the following persons will give testimonies about the consequences of statelessness in their lives:
· A stateless child
· An internally displaced woman
Interactive dialogue
7. Discussions will focus mainly on the causes of statelessness and its consequences, especially as statelessness is not always as a result of the lack of a civil status document or proof of nationality, but can be caused by other situations such as migration, internal displacement and legal restrictions.
8. The various speakers will provide answers to questions and will gather proposals made by participants regarding solutions for situations that may create cases of statelessness, as well as discuss the commitment of States to further strengthen instruments to protect Africans against statelessness such as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Specific Aspects of the Right to Nationality which is being considered for adoption by the AU.
Tentative programme
- Video projection: 5 mins
- Testimonies: 10 mins (5 mins per person)
- Testimony of a child
- Testimony of a woman
- Introduction by Moderator: 5 mins
- Intervention by Panelists: 20mins (5 mins per person)
- Interactive dialogue: 30 mins
Proposed Panelists:
- Commissioner Maya Sahli Fadel, Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons and Migrants in Africa
- Dr Khabele Matlosa, Department of Political and Humanitarian Affairs
- Lisa Fergusson-Nicol, Senior Legal Officer, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, West Africa Regional Office
- Dr. Bronwen Manby, Researcher, Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa
- Ibrahima Kane, Open Society Initiative for West Africa, Moderator
