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This Strategy Note provides a framework of action to address statelessness issues. Effective responses to statelessness require a partnership approach.
Governments resolve and prevent statelessness by taking practical steps as set out in the Global Action Plan.
Documents highlighting good practices to address statelessness are available in Refworld
The Campaign to End Statelessness in 10 years aims to spread awareness and change perceptions about statelessness.
Sign and share our Open Letter to End Statelessness by 2024.
Documents highlighting good practices to address statelessness are available in Refworld
This issue of FMR includes 22 articles by academic, international and local actors debating the challenges faced by stateless people and the search for appropriate responses and solutions. (external link)
Summary conclusions of the expert meeting convened by UNHCR and the Open Society Justice Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland, 6-7 December 2010.
UNHCR reports on the situation of stateless persons in the Kyrgyz Republic.
This report provides a framework for analysing situations where persons are stateless or are at risk of becoming stateless.
UNHCR engages with EU Member States to identify and resolve the problems of stateless persons.
The two UN statelessness conventions are the key legal instruments in the protection of stateless people around the world.
Millions of stateless people are left in a legal limbo, with limited basic rights.
Statelessness refers to the condition of someone who is not considered as a national by any country.
Important causes of statelessness are discrimination and gaps in nationality legislation.
The Special Report provides a comprehensive overview of statelessness and delves into the human impact of this devastating phenomenon.
Action taken by states, including follow-up on pledges made at UNHCR's 2011 ministerial meeting in Geneva.
Reduction of statelessness means finding a durable solution for people caught in statelessness situations.
Identification of statelessness goes far beyond acquiring statistics on stateless populations.
This interactive and practical online course from UNHCR raises awareness of statelessness, its causes and consequences, and explains the relevant legal framework.
Steps taken by States to reduce statelessness and to meet the protection needs of stateless persons.
Background to the statelessness expert meeting series.
The Global Action Plan sets out a clear and practical strategy comprised on 10 Actions which need to be undertaken to end statelessness in by 2024.
The 1961 Convention is the leading international instrument that sets rules for the conferral and non-withdrawal of citizenship to prevent statelessness.
Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly between 1974 and 2007.
This mini-feature was published as part of Forced Migration Review issue 46.
Results of a study carried out in 2008 by UNHCR, with support from the European Commission and UNICEF, May 2009.
Chapter from UNHCR Statistical Yearbook 2014 on the issue of statelessness and table of statistics on persons of concern to UNHCR.
A Campaign to End Statelessness launched on the 60th Anniversary of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.
Conclusion No. 106 (LVII) - 2006, adopted at the 57th Executive Committee session.
An evaluation by UNHCR's Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit, July 2001.
Press release published on 4 November 2014
This annual Background Note provides an overview of gender inequality in nationality laws and the growing willingness and commitment by States to take action to achieve gender equality.
The easiest and most effective way to deal with statelessness is to prevent it from occurring in the first place.
A Commentary by Nehemiah Robinson of the Institute of Jewish Affairs at the 1955 World Jewish Congress, re-printed by UNHCR's Division of International Protection in 1997
Birth registration helps to protect persons of concern and to prevent statelessness.
We work with governments, civil society and aid organizations to address statelessness.
Summary Conclusions of the first Global Roundtable on Alternatives to Detention, held in May 2011 in Geneva
Launch of the UNHCR Commemorations in the Americas, Brasilia, Brazil, 11 November 2010, in Portuguese and Spanish.
IPU statement to mark major anniversaries of UN conventions on refugees and statelessness.
The 1954 Convention provides the definition of a "stateless person" and the foundation of the international legal framework to address statelessness.
CEDAW Statement on the Anniversaries of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 19 October 2011.
At least 10 million people in the world today are stateless. They are told that they don't belong anywhere. They are denied a nationality. And without one, they are denied their basic rights. From the moment they are born they are deprived of not only citizenship but, in many cases, even documentation of their birth. Many struggle throughout their lives with limited or no access to education, health care, employment, freedom of movement or sense of security. Many are unable to marry, while some people choose not to have children just to avoid passing on the stigma of statelessness. Even at the end of their lives, many stateless people are denied the dignity of a death certificate and proper burial.
The human impact of statelessness is tremendous. Generations and entire communities can be affected. But, with political will, statelessness is relatively easy to resolve. Thanks to government action, more than 4 million stateless people acquired a nationality between 2003 and 2013 or had their nationality confirmed. Between 2004 and 2014, twelve countries took steps to remove gender discrimination from their nationality laws - action that is vital to ensuring children are not left stateless if their fathers are stateless or unable to confer their nationality. Between 2011 and 2014, there were 42 accessions to the two statelessness conventions - indication of a growing consensus on the need to tackle statelessness. UNHCR's 10-year Campaign to End Statelessness seeks to give impetus to this. The campaign calls on states to take 10 actions that would bring a definitive end to this problem and the suffering it causes.
These images are available for use only to illustrate articles related to UNHCR statelessness campaign. They are not available for archiving, resale, redistribution, syndication or third party licensing, but only for one-time print/online usage. All images must be properly credited UNHCR/photographer's name
Two decades after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, thousands of people in former Soviet republics like Kyrgyzstan are still facing problems with citizenship. UNHCR has identified more than 20,000 stateless people in the Central Asian nation. These people are not considered as nationals under the laws of any country. While many in principle fall under the Kyrgyz citizenship law, they have not been confirmed as nationals under the existing procedures.
Most of the stateless people in Kyrgyzstan have lived there for many years, have close family links in the country and are culturally and socially well-integrated. But because they lack citizenship documents, these folk are often unable to do the things that most people take for granted, including registering a marriage or the birth of a child, travelling within Kyrgyzstan and overseas, receiving pensions or social allowances or owning property. The stateless are more vulnerable to economic hardship, prone to higher unemployment and do not enjoy full access to education and medical services.
Since independence in 1991, Kyrgyzstan has taken many positive steps to reduce and prevent statelessness. And UNHCR, under its statelessness mandate, has been assisting the country by providing advice on legislation and practices as well as giving technical assistance to those charged with solving citizenship problems. The refugee agency's NGO partners provide legal counselling to stateless people and assist them in their applications for citizenship.
However, statelessness in Kyrgyzstan is complex and thousands of people, mainly women and children, still face legal, administrative and financial hurdles when seeking to confirm or acquire citizenship. In 2009, with the encouragement of UNHCR, the government adopted a national action plan to prevent and reduce statelessness. In 2011, the refugee agency will help revise the plan and take concrete steps to implement it. A concerted effort by all stakeholders is needed so that statelessness does not become a lingering problem for future generations.
In the Dominican Republic, UNHCR runs programmes that benefit refugees and asylum-seekers from Haiti as well as migrants and members of their family born in the country, some of whom could be stateless or at risk of becoming stateless. Many live in bateyes, which are destitute communities on once thriving sugar cane plantations. The inhabitants have been crossing over from Haiti for decades to work in the sugar trade.
Among these initiatives, UNHCR provides legal aid, academic remedial courses and vocational training for refugees and asylum-seekers. They also support entrepreneurial initiatives and access to micro credit.
UNHCR also has an increased presence in border communities in order to promote peaceful coexistence between Dominican and Haitian populations. The UN refugee agency has found that strengthening the agricultural production capacities of both groups promotes integration and mitigates tension.
Many Haitians and Dominicans living in the dilapidated bateyes are at risk of statelessness. Stateless people are not considered as nationals by any country. This can result in them having trouble accessing and exercising basic rights, including education and medical care as well as employment, travel and housing. UNHCR aims to combat statelessness by facilitating the issuance of birth certificates for people living in the bateyes.