IWRAW Asia Pacific

How to Protect Every Child’s Right to a Nationality

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How to Protect Every Child’s Right to a Nationality

April 2021

Organised by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, with the Centre for Civil and Political Rights, Child Rights Connect, TB-Net and IWRAW Asia Pacific, this webinar featured UN Human Rights Committee member Shuichi Furuya, CEDAW Committee member Elgun Safarov, CRC Committee member Benyam Dawit Mezmur and CMW Committee member Álvaro Botero.

The UN Human Rights Committee recently issued its first ever decision on the child’s right to acquire a nationality. The case centred on the State’s failure to recognise a child as stateless and provide a non-discriminatory pathway to nationality. According to the Committee, this violates article 24 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), under which states have a responsibility to ensure that stateless children under their jurisdiction are not left without legal protection. This ruling marks an important milestone in efforts to promote the realisation of every child’s right to a nationality – a right that is cross-cutting in the UN human rights system, and fundamental to every child’s development and equal participation in society.

Duration: 1:37:53
Subtitles: None