08 December 2011

Ministerial Meeting Wraps Up

(updated)

The Ministerial Meeting is now over. Here's the text of the keynote speech by Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, an "eternally displaced person." This news story notes that "Serbia and Turkmenistan became the two newest states parties to the 1961 and 1954 stateless conventions respectively, joining Panama, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Croatia in having acceded to stateless conventions during this year." And at least 20 other countries have made pledges to accede to one or the other convention. Here is a list of who is acceding to what that I gleaned by browsing through the various Twitter feeds, but it's by no means "official"!

  • Belgium: 1961 Statelessness
  • Burundi: 1961 Statelessness, Kampala Conv.
  • Colombia: 1961 Statelessness
  • Gambia: 1954 Stateless Persons, 1961 Statelessness
  • Guinea: 1961 Statelessness, Kampala Conv.
  • Haiti: 1954 Stateless Persons, 1961 Statelessness
  • Moldova: 1954 Stateless Persons, 1961 Statelessness
  • Mozambique: 1961 Statelessness
  • Paraguay: 1961 Statelessness
  • Sierra Leone: 1954 Stateless Persons, 1961 Statelessness
  • South Africa: 1954 Stateless Persons, 1961 Statelessness
  • South Sudan: 1954 Stateless Persons, 1961 Statelessness, 1951 Refugee, Kampala Conv.
  • Tanzania: 1954 Stateless Persons, 1961 Statelessness, Kampala Conv.
  • Ukraine: 1954 Stateless Persons, 1961 Statelessness
  • Yemen: 1954 Stateless Persons, 1961 Statelessness
  • Zimbabwe: 1961 Statelessness
Other countries made pledges to enhance protection for stateless persons and refugees, with the U.S. presenting a record 28. Here are two initial reactions, from Human Rights First and UNHCR's Washington office.

For another recap of statelessness pledges made, read this post on the Statelessness blog.


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