Recommendations of the Civil Society Meeting on African Union mechanisms and the Protection of Refugee, IDP and Citizenship Rights

African civil society organizations and experts met in Kampala, Uganda, from 19-20 October 2009 on the margins of the AU Special Summit on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced persons. Issues discussed included statelessness and nationality rights, which have been both a cause and consequence of forced displacement and discrimination in Africa. The session recognised that effective citizenship is a doorway to accessing other rights, including for refugees and the displaced. In this context, it was noted that the right to nationality needed to be promoted as a mechanism both to prevent and to respond to displacement on the continent.