Church Aid Inc

Church Aid believes that ending Statelessness is a human rights cause and it’s in line with religious teachings to fight for the rights of the oppressed, orphans and to entertain strangers. During the past nine years as we have gone from community to community to conduct workshops and awareness sessions and promoting birth registration and certification – including the cause of stateless persons in the Mano River Union Basin, we have come to understand how, firstly, that many people are unaware of the plight of stateless persons and the need to provide awareness and sensitization on the causes and prevention – and to enlist community volunteers in the fight to end statelessness. Since 2016 when we conducted the first 3-day training of trainers (TOT) awareness for local leaders from seven (7) of the fifteen (15) counties, we have come to consider that this campaign is worthwhile. We have therefore led the annual commemoration of the #IBelong Campaign in Liberia since then (including our plans to present birth certificates in this year to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the campaign). We have also been motivated in local communities by local leaders including teachers, healthcare workers, chiefs, elders and traditional leaders, community leaders, etc., who have always come forward to participate in the workshops and also ensure that the awareness reach their communities. This has included the Volunteer Field Registrars (VFRs) that we have trained from each intervening community to raise awareness, screen and register under-12-years-old children in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Liberia.

We are also motivated by the complementary campaigns to support the repeal of gender discriminatory nationality laws through engagements with young people, lawmakers and other stakeholders. The combined efforts of all stakeholders in Liberia led to the repeal of the law that denied a child bore by a Liberian mother to a non-Liberian father outside of Liberia. This discriminatory law allowed children born to Liberian fathers outside of Liberia to non-Liberian mothers to be considered as Liberians. Now we think there’s a need to community awareness on the repeal law otherwise many people in and out of the country may not know that the law has been repealed. We also want to ensure that this campaign takes root in the Mano River Union Basin and beyond.