300 participants, 70 countries, 1 topic: The First Global Forum on Statelessness

Reassuring and invigorating – giving a sense that, together, progress really is achievable on statelessness

A unique opportunity to interact with experts who are normally dispersed all around the world

A chance to look at old questions in new ways and to pose new questions that have not been explored before

These are some of the sentiments expressed by participants of the First Global Forum on Statelessness which was convened by Tilburg University and UNHCR from 15-17 September 2014. After two years of planning and preparations, 300 participants from 70 different countries came together at the Peace Palace in the Hague to talk about one topic: how to solve statelessness. With more than a hundred presentations and many more ideas and experiences exchanged during the conference sessions as well as the coffee and lunch breaks, it is impossible to do justice to this event and to everyone who contributed to it in a single blog. But, it is also impossible to resist the temptation to share some of my own highlights from the Forum, so here are just a few of the things that stood out for me…

Anticipation

Even as we drove a rental van full of conference paraphernalia through the gates of the Peace Palace the Friday before the event to set everything up, the ‘First Global Forum on Statelessness’ still didn’t feel real. What would the venue look like once 300 people arrived? Would they indeed arrive? What would they expect from the Forum? Would we be able to meet those expectations? With such a diverse audience, not just in geographical terms, but also in the exciting mix of academics, NGOs, governments, UN, legal practitioners, stateless and formerly stateless persons, journalists and others, would the conference actually “work”? Would our ideas be relevant to one another, would we feel a sense of shared purpose and would we even find a common language to talk about the issue? These are the things our team wondered about quietly as we busied ourselves stuffing conference bags, loading the resource table with books and brochures and setting up the registration desk.

When the Monday morning of the Forum arrived, the feeling of anticipation and of nervous excitement only grew as participants queued (for rather too long, sorry about that!) to pick up their registration materials. Slowly but surely the foyer became populated with a mixture of familiar and new faces, the group swelling to an impressive crowd by the time the opening session began. I had the honour to address the plenary first and briefly welcome everyone to the event before UNHCR Director of International Protection, Volker Türk, gave his keynote speech – and I had given careful thought to what I should say for the occasion. As I climbed the few steps to the podium and took my place behind the microphone though, the force of 300 pairs of eyes, all filled with their own look of anticipation and all fixed on me, made any opening words I had come up with slip my mind entirely. For a heartbeat I worried that I would find nothing to say at all to the waiting crowd, but instead I shared the one simple thought that consumed me in that moment: that it was quite a thing to see so many people gathered to show their commitment and give their time to trying to address this long-neglected problem of statelessness (or something less coherent perhaps, but that was the gist of it). Pausing to take it all in created a picture in my mind that I will cherish. To me it marked the end of any and all residual feeling that to work on statelessness is a lonely profession! And, for me at least, that was when anticipation made way for pure enjoyment of the long-awaited opportunity to listen, to talk, to question and to debate the many different challenges and opportunities around statelessness that we face today.     

Inspiration

Throughout the three densely packed and intense days of the Global Forum, there was a palpable “buzz” to the atmosphere. Whether it was because it was the first such event, or the setting of the Peace Palace basked in glorious late-summer sunshine, or the backdrop of the imminent launch of the ambitious UNHCR-led campaign to end statelessness by 2024, or simply the chance to dive straight into real and meaningful discussions about problems and solutions (without the often necessary precursor of explaining what statelessness is or exploring basic questions around causes and impacts), or a combination of these factors… there was a sense of this being an event packed with not just content, but also meaning. It is without a doubt that, although the participation of persons directly affected by statelessness was sadly limited by logistical constraints, the voices of those stateless and formerly stateless persons who were able to attend and share their stories contributed greatly to this sense of a very meaningful gathering. Many people I spoke to about what they would take away with them from the Global Forum talked of the inspiration they drew for meeting or listening to the contributions of Railya, Dipu, Lara, Aor, Hasan and Juliana. It reminded us all that we need to take more time to understand not just the difficulties faced by stateless persons, but also how they experience those difficulties, how they perceive their situation and what change they would like to see or contribute to. While it will remain a challenge to convene people affected by statelessness because that very status often stands in the way of travel it is absolutely vital to do more to include them in discussing and working towards solutions – not just for them, but with them.

Innovation

The Global Forum was not just a site for inspiration, but also for innovation. So many of the presentations made – from the keynotes to the panels to the poster sessions – explored new dimensions of the problem of statelessness. So many people have arrived at the issue from such different directions, from an interest in the regulation of international surrogacy arrangements, to a concern about the growing use of nationality policy as a ‘tool’ in the fight against terrorism, to a desire to better understand how and why irregular or forced migration are prompting statelessness… Posters looked at country situations we have long known little to nothing about, like statelessness in Madagascar, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia and Iran. The occasion of the Forum was also seized upon as an opportunity to launch or announce new statelessness initiatives. The launch of the new Cambridge University Press publication ‘Nationality and Statelessness under International Law’ was celebrated – as Professor Linda Kerber’s generous and beautifully crafted introduction pointed out, exactly 55 years after Paul Weis’ work of a similar name was published just as the UN was then debating a convention to eliminate statelessness (i.e. what became the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness). The re-launch of the European Network on Statelessness, a thriving civil society network of organisations and individual experts committed to addressing statelessness in Europe, was celebrated as the Network has just completed the important step of establishing as an independent Charitable Incorporated Organisation with a revised structure and ambitious plans for the future. And the establishment of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion was also announced and celebrated, with the beginning of a consultation process through a ‘wall of BIG IDEAS’ and collecting feedback on online support for future networking and information sharing on statelessness that the Institute hopes to set up. This Institute, by the way, when it starts its work in earnest on 1 January 2015, will be my exciting new home and will continue and build on the work of the Tilburg University Statelessness Programme which is being reinvented, strengthened and expanded through this new, independent initiative – but more on that on another occasion.

Motivation

Participating in the Global Forum was, in itself, a motivating experience, but for some there was an added incentive – or perhaps, better said, reward – for the work they have put into this issue. The 2014 UNHCR Awards for Statelessness Research were presented during the closing plenary, honouring the best student research on statelessness at undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels completed in 2013-2014. Last year, when these awards were inaugurated, the ceremony was a virtual one as the recipients were spread out in different locations around the world. This time, however, the Forum had brought so many people working on statelessness together in a single place that as luck would have it, all of the award recipients could be addressed in person. Professor René de Groot did a masterful job of presenting the Jury Report and delivering the award certificates on behalf of the team of international academic experts who assessed the nominated work. Two students from Tilburg University were among the winners, including one of the Global Forum’s conference hosts in fact – Maria Jose Recalde Vela – whose undergraduate thesis explored the relationship between identity and nationality, from a legal and socio-psychological perspective. But it was particularly special to see the prize for best doctoral research on statelessness presented for the first time, awarded to Dr Jason Tucker for his PhD thesis completed at the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Bath, entitled Challenging the tyranny of citizenship: Statelessness in Lebanon. Next month, a series of special blog posts will be dedicated to the winners of the 2014 UNHCR Awards for Statelessness Research and we also intend to post a video of the award ceremony when this is ready. Meanwhile, I hope that even if there may not be a similar occasion at which to present the certificates in the years to come, the awards will continue to motivate students to contribute to identifying and investigating critical questions in the field of statelessness.

Dissemination

While 300 people gathered in the grounds of the Peace Palace for the Global Forum, many more followed the event in some way from a distance. Participants at the Forum shared some of their experiences and lots of snapshots from the event through twitter and facebook, using the hashtag #statelessness2014 (more than 500 tweets went out with this hashtag over the 3 days of the conference). Emma Batha, journalist with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, not only participated in the media panel at the Forum but also filed a series of stories before and during the event, helping to highlight some of the current challenges as well as to draw attention back to the human impact of statelessness. Several Dutch newspapers, including Trouw and NRC Next were prompted by the Global Forum to run their own stories about statelessness and there was some national radio coverage. The Guardian, Newsweek, Channel News Asia and Al Jazeera’s Inside Story also all reported on the issue and the Forum. This dissemination of information through the media and the enthusiastic sharing of photos and experiences by participants of the Forum within their own personal and professional networks creates an important ripple-effect, generating a better understanding of the phenomenon of statelessness within a much wider circle of people. Already we have had lots of additional sign-ups to the post-conference mailing list and we will now take up the task of developing the space and the tools for a continued conversation on the issue.

That leaves me to end this blog by saying a massive thank you to everyone who contributed to make the First Global Forum on Statelessness a success, whether it was by sharing your expertise, posing a question, spreading the word or in another way. And most importantly, let’s stay in touch!  

Dr Laura van Waas, Senior Researcher and Manager of the Statelessness Programme; Co-founder of the new Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion

UNHCR’s verdict on statelessness activities over last two years: “unprecedented”

Every other year, UNHCR produces a report summarising the progress made in addressing statelessness. It discusses important international trends and developments, as well as UNHCR’s own activities and achievements. In other words, it’s a very nice little snapshot of what has been happening and this time around there is more to report than ever before. UNHCR’s overall verdict on the current interest and momentum in addressing statelessness…? “Unprecedented”. Here are some of the most interesting highlights from the report:

UNHCR’s commitment to statelessness

Often criticised in the past for not engaging enough on its statelessness mandate, things have changed dramatically within UNHCR over the last few years and there are now some key institutional arrangements that will help the agency to work more effectively on statelessness. According to the report:

“UNHCR’s four pillar budget structure (which is broken down by particular population groups including pillar II for stateless persons), global strategic priorities and results-based framework for planning and reporting have permitted field offices to establish specific objectives and set budgets for activities relating to statelessness which are visible and distinct from those for refugees and other persons of concern. This has ensured that responses to the statelessness problem are given due attention in relevant operations. Progress made in this regard may be measured by the number of UNHCR operations which set objectives relating to statelessness: from 28 operations in 2009, the number rose to 51 in 2010 and 60 in 2011, remaining at this level in 2012. A similar rise occurred in budgets and expenditure. […] UNHCR has strengthened its global response to statelessness, both in terms of reach and also the quality of its interventions, through increased staffing capacity. The High Commissioner’s protection capacity initiative of 2011-2012 led to the creation of five dedicated regional statelessness posts covering Asia and the Pacific, Europe, West Africa, the Americas and the Middle East and North Africa. These posts were filled in 2012 and 2013, and they have significantly bolstered the capacity of field offices in these regions. […] Significant effort was made to bolster the capacity of staff through training and the provision of additional operational guidance. […] Statelessness workshops were organized in four regions for over 110 field staff, while workshops at headquarters reached more than 100 staff.”

Governments’ commitment to statelessness

While the actual reduction of statelessness or improvement of the lives of stateless people can be the only real measure of governments’ commitment to statelessness, it is also interesting to look at whether and how statelessness features on governments’ agendas. There are encouraging signs that statelessness is now being taken more seriously and that government commitment – on the surface at least – is increasing:

“The anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness in 2011 proved to be a breakthrough in UNHCR’s efforts to achieve progress on statelessness around the world. At the Ministerial Intergovernmental Event, 61 States made a total of 105 specific and measurable pledges relating to statelessness. These pledges included: 32 on accession to the 1961 Convention; 22 on accession to the 1954 Convention; 12 to reform nationality laws; 12 to improve civil registration to prevent and reduce statelessness; 12 to conduct studies or awareness-raising campaigns; 11 to establish statelessness determination procedures; and 4 to address the problem through foreign policy initiatives. […] Currently, 22 per cent of the pledges made have been implemented. Significantly, there were 26 accessions to the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions during the two years covered by this report.”

Strengthening other partnerships to address statelessness

Building a comprehensive and successful response to statelessness is a task that cannot be left to governments and UNHCR alone, but in which many other partners can and must contribute. As with the progress statelessness has made in climbing the agendas of governments and within UNHCR itself, so too is it gathering further support from a broad range of stakeholders in every region:

“The Office worked to expand its partnerships and benefited from the increased interest in statelessness generated by the anniversary of the 1961 Convention in 2011. It supported a major symposium of the African Union in Nairobi, Kenya, which explored a range of statelessness issues and adopted a number of recommendations. This was followed by the adoption of a resolution on statelessness and the right to nationality by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. UNHCR also undertook two workshops with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Inter-Governmental Human Rights Commission on issues relating to the nationality of women and children and birth registration. In the Americas, UNHCR supported a workshop on statelessness for staff and permanent missions of the Organization of American States, as requested by its General Assembly. The Office briefed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and provided background information on statelessness to the Commissioner of Human Rights of the Council of Europe. It also worked more intensively with the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, including on the organization of the Zagreb Conference on the Provision of Civil Status Documentation and Registration in South Eastern Europe, which took place in October 2011. To promote action on statelessness by parliamentarians, UNHCR provided a number of briefings to the Inter-Parliamentary Union. […] In 2012, UNHCR organized a session to promote information exchange, joint strategizing and coalition-building among NGOs. Twenty-six organizations from 13 countries attended, and a follow-up event will be held in 2013.” [= recent NGOconsultations and statelessness retreat which we reported about last month onthis blog]

Law reform to prevent and reduce statelessness

A pivotal component of the response to statelessness is to put in place legal frameworks that safeguard the right to a nationality. In other words, by reforming nationality laws to e.g. remove discrimination or incorporate special provisions that will help to prevent statelessness among children, the suffering that comes with statelessness can simply be avoided. Nationality laws around the world undergo regular amendments and the trick is to use these as opportunities to improve the safety-nets against statelessness and certainly to ensure that the legal framework does not deteriorate:

“During the reporting period, a total of 14 States amended their nationality legislation to strengthen safeguards against statelessness. UNHCR observed several broad trends in nationality laws during this period, including removal of legal provisions leading to loss of nationality for residence  abroad, removal of requirements to renounce nationality before applying for naturalization, and inclusion of safeguards to prevent statelessness owing to voluntary renunciation of citizenship. Consultations with governments in the lead-up to the Ministerial Intergovernmental Event provided an opportunity to discuss problematic elements of nationality laws and possible amendments to address them. Twelve governments made pledges on law reform to prevent and reduce statelessness.”

Resolving cases of statelessness

Millions of people are affected by statelessness around the world and some situations of statelessness have become so protracted that they have engulfed several successive generations, which has a massive social, political, psychological and economic impact on these communities. In 2012, UNHCR High Commissioner Guterres called on all states “to make a firm commitment to ending statelessness within the next decade”. For this to happen, finding ways to resolve statelessness is critical. Progress in this area is steady, but it needs to pick up speed if this goal is to be attainable:

“There was slow but steady progress in reducing statelessness in a number of countries, though no breakthrough that led to a major reduction in the global population. The data available to UNHCR showed that more than 115,000 people acquired a nationality or had it confirmed in 2011 and approximately 94,600 in 2012. This was similar to the progress achieved during the previous reporting period. […]The Office continued to advocate for solutions to a number of protracted statelessness situations. The anniversary of the 1961 Convention again allowed for significant consultations with governments on solutions. One encouraging development was the willingness of a small number of States to discuss their own successful efforts to resolve statelessness situations, thereby encouraging others to follow their example. There was also an increased understanding among States that prolonged statelessness can lead to displacement and unrest. This was underlined by the continuing outflows of Rohingya refugees without nationality from Myanmar and the spike in departures following communal violence there in 2012.”

The Statelessness Programme and UNHCR

Tilburg University’s Statelessness Programme – the hosts of this blog – was established in 2011, so at the beginning of the period which UNHCR has now reported on. It is encouraging to see that the cooperation between the Statelessness Programme and UNHCR throughout these two years is also noted and some of the activities get an explicit mention:

“With the goal of reaching a higher number of staff and partners, and with a related objective of building institutional capacity, the Office supported short courses organized by external actors, including Oxford University, Tilburg University, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, Mahidol University and the European Network on Statelessness. […] It worked with the universities of Tilburg, Maastricht and New South Wales as well as the Open Society Foundations to develop a global analytical database of nationality laws. [...] In collaboration with Tilburg University, the Office will hold the First Global Forum on Statelessness [in 2014] at which up to 300 representatives of academic and international institutions, governments NGOs and statelessness populations from around the world will present their research, responses and experiences related to statelessness.”

What is next?

This edition of UNHCR’s note on statelessness ends on an encouraging note. Rightly so, given in particular the institutional progress and the signs of increased – “unprecedented” – commitment and engagement by UNHCR and a range of other actors. At the same time, the report also correctly points out that turning this commitment and engagement into real change on the ground remains a challenge and there is much more to be done:

“UNHCR’s activities under its statelessness mandate were enhanced during the two years covered by this report. This was in part due to the organization-wide focus on statelessness during the anniversary of the 1961 Convention in 2011, but it also reflects a longer-term trend. There was an unprecedented impact in terms of action by States, including a significant number of accessions and the adoption of new determination procedures. The number of pledges made by governments at the 2011 Ministerial Intergovernmental Event suggests further progress will be made in the coming years. While impressive, these developments pale in comparison to the magnitude of the problem. There was only limited progress toward resolution of protracted situations. If the international community is to be successful in meeting the challenges posed by statelessness globally, the momentum of the past two years must be maintained and channeled towards acquisition of nationality by stateless persons.”

NGO Statement on Statelessness: delivered to UNHCR Standing Committee in June 2013

At UNHCR's June 2013 Standing Committee session, the following joint statement was delivered on behalf of NGOs about the problem of statelessness. 

STANDING Committee of the

High Commissioner’s Programme

57th Meeting

25 – 27 June 2013

NGO Statement on Statelessness

Agenda Item 3(b)

Madame Chair, Ladies and Gentlemen,

This statement (available at: www.icvanetwork.org) is being delivered by the Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers).  It has been drafted in consultation with, and is delivered on behalf of, a wide range of NGOs and aims to reflect the diversity of views within the NGO community.

            NGOs are encouraged by recent developments illustrating real progress in global efforts to tackle statelessness, many of which arise from pledges made during the December 2011 Ministerial meeting organised by UNHCR to mark the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the 1961 Statelessness Convention. At this meeting a total of 21 States pledged to ratify both the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. A further 11 States pledged to ratify the 1961 Convention, and one pledged to ratify the 1954 Convention. In 2012, five of those States acceded to the 1954 Convention and seven to the 1961 Convention.

            NGOs particularly welcome the work of some Member States towards the establishment of statelessness determination procedures, including in Brazil, Costa Rica and Uruguay in the Americas region. The recent introduction of a UK statelessness determination procedure similarly serves as a useful example to the vast majority of European states who do not yet have dedicated procedures in place, despite having ratified the 1954 Statelessness Convention. It is hoped that pledges made by the European Union at the General Assembly in October 2012 signify a sea change in the priority it affords to tackling statelessness which has hitherto been largely absent from its agenda. Also welcome are current proposals to establish a statelessness determination procedure in the U.S. as part of comprehensive immigration reform. Against the overall relatively limited progress made implementing State pledges in the Africa region, the recent reform of the Zimbabwe constitution stands out as a positive example and NGOs note that the reform of its nationality law and effective implementation will be key to ensuring that the mass statelessness issues there are resolved. Likewise to be applauded are recent improvements to Russian nationality legislation, which should help reduce statelessness in that country. At the same, it remains of significant and enduring concern that so many individuals are still stateless following the break-up of the former Soviet Union more than 20 years ago, including large numbers of ethnic Russians residing in Estonia and Latvia.      

            Equally, NGOs are encouraged that over the last decade many States have reformed their nationality laws to address gender inequality, including five states from the Middle East and North Africa. At the December 2011 Ministerial Meeting, two states pledged to introduce reforms in that regard. Nevertheless, 29 States around the world – including 13 countries in the Middle East and North Africa - still discriminate against women in their right to pass their nationality on to their family, which is causing statelessness or at least contributing to the its perpetuation in many situations. We encourage all countries to reform their nationality laws to lift gender discrimination in line with international standards.             

            NGOs expect that UNHCR will continue to address the massive and protracted statelessness problems worldwide through adequate programming and staff resources, even as the organization struggles to deal with so many large-scale emergencies. The plight of stateless Rohingya over the past decades, culminating in the violence which began in June 2012, demonstrates the strong nexus between protracted statelessness, vulnerability to human rights abuse and discrimination, persecution, internal displacement and forced migration. While recognising the need for humanitarian aid and protection for displaced populations, UNHCR is also encouraged to address the root causes of arbitrary deprivation of nationality that results in statelessness for such populations in order to achieve durable solutions that respect and protect the human rights of all concerned.       

            NGOs urge UNHCR to continue its efforts to mainstream statelessness and the right to nationality in all relevant UN processes and to cooperate with its sister agencies to address this issue. In particular, NGOs encourage greater cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.  We also encourage UNHCR to continue to dialogue with and provide technical assistance to States to reduce and prevent statelessness.

NGOs are encouraged by the growing interest of students, academics and research institutions in statelessness. It is hoped that the First Global Forum on Statelessness, which is to be held in September 2014 in The Hague, will serve to strengthen partnerships between academia, UNHCR and NGOs on statelessness research and capacity building activities.

However, despite progress, an estimated 12 million people are still not recognized as citizens of any country in the world. Without the protection of a government, they are stigmatized and often live in extreme poverty without access to education, health care or legal processes that shield them from abuse and exploitation. NGOs therefore applaud the recent statements by High Commissioner Guterres calling for the eradication of statelessness within a decade. Such ambition is necessary in order to mobilise the broad spectrum of international actors and resources required to make real progress towards achieving this objective. Meeting this goal will also require stronger public messaging, awareness-raising and forums to hear the voices of stateless persons themselves.       

In this regard, NGOs support the recent call for the adoption of an international day of observance on statelessness.  If implemented, this could deliver positive impact comparable to that already achieved in other fields such as through International Refugee Day. Next year, as the world commemorates the 60^th anniversary of the 1954 Statelessness Convention, we hope that the first international day on statelessness will stand as a sign of collective resolve to reduce and prevent statelessness and to protect all stateless persons.

Finally, Madame Chair, we encourage all governments that made pledges to report on their progress at the 2013 Executive Committee meeting in three months time.

Thank you, Madame Chair.

Introducing... Linda Peels, intern supporting the organisation of the First Global Forum on Statelessness

Ms Linda Peels, 22 years old, Dutch

Studying: International and European Law, Bachelor Programme

Internship Project: Organisational support for the “First Global Forum on Statelessness” in September 2014, co-hosted by UNHCR and the Statelessness Programme.

Last year I attended a pub lecture on statelessness, given by Laura van Waas. I had never heard of this topic before, but after Laura’s lecture I immediately wanted to learn more about this phenomenon, in particular how it could possibly happen that someone did not have a nationality. I was thrilled when I saw that The Statelessness Programme was looking for an intern.

My internship focusses mainly on the organisational part of the 2014 Global Forum. When I first started, I have to admit I was a bit in doubt whether I would actually learn a lot about the academic side of statelessness, since this is not the main focus of my internship. So alongside my internship,  I also enrolled for the course “Nationality, Statelessness and Human Rights”, created by the Statelessness Programme.

However, my doubt turned out to be for nothing: from my first day on, I had – and still have-  to write so many people and explain to them what statelessness is and why this conference is so important, that I was forced to look into the topic and the definition to deepen my knowledge. Many questions arose, differing from very practical, such as how many NGOs are actually working on statelessness – not that many by the way- , to very academic, for instance how we should interpret the definition of statelessness given in art 1 of the 1954 UN Convention Relating to The Status of Stateless Persons, or how safeguards should be implemented in nationality laws to prevent statelessness.

For these questions, the combination of studying the topic during class and working on the topic during my internship is perfect: I get to work with both the practical obstacles and questions as well as the academic side of statelessness, which really helps me to understand this complex phenomenon and to explain what it is in a way that non-academics will understand it too. I found the answers to my questions, not only in literature during class, but also by working on the topic during my internship.

To give you an idea of what organising of such an extraordinary event implies, I will elaborate a bit more on what I am currently working on. The idea is to hold a conference for both academics and policy makers. On this point, we are trying to map NGOs who are working on the topic, we are looking for academics as key note speakers and we are mapping governments that have done a lot to prevent statelessness, for instance Indonesia, who has changed their nationality law and built in more safeguards to prevent statelessness. We hope to attract some 300 academics, governments representatives, key UN staff, NGO’s or legal practitioners working on human rights, refugees and stateless people with various international backgrounds. We have to make sure we keep a balance between policy developers and academics, since the hoped outcome of the conference implies both encouraging new research on statelessness and the development of better nationality laws or other policies, for instance giving stateless people access to Micro Finance Intuitions – see Jason’s latest blog post.

The conference aims to raise the profile of statelessness by giving academics and governments representatives the opportunity to share their research, experiences and achievements in tackling the issue. We also hope to provide a podium for the stateless and to give them a voice.

Since I first started I have met such wonderful people who are always willing to answer my questions. I have already learned a lot about the topic of statelessness, the mandate of the UNHCR and the people working on statelessness, and I still have more than a year left full of learning and experiences!

Linda Peels, intern with the Statelessness Programme

Start the clocks: countdown to the FIRST GLOBAL FORUM ON STATELESSNESS

It's official, in exactly 18 months time, the First Global Forum on Statelessness will be convened in the Hague (the Netherlands), to mark the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. A joint initiative of the Statelessness Programme (Tilburg University) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this 3-day event will bring together some 300 academics, government representatives, international organisations, NGOs and stateless people from around the world to present their research, policy work and experiences on statelessness.

 

The overarching theme of the First Global Forum on Statelessness is “Exploring challenges and sharing good practices in research and policy on statelessness”. Three sub-themes have been identified as the main focus for presentations and discussion:

1.   Stateless Children

Topics that may be considered under this theme include: securing a child’s right to a nationality, including in contexts such as international surrogacy arrangements, where children are abandoned or orphaned , or in the case of disabled children; the importance of birth registration and documentation; the impacts on children of gender discrimination in nationality matters; and addressing the psychological effects of statelessness on children

2.   Statelessness and Security

This theme encompasses questions of the impact of statelessness on  human security, national and international security. Issues to be explored may include: the impacts of statelessness on economic, social and cultural rights;  links between statelessness and forced displacement, human trafficking and arbitrary detention; or the role of nationality and statelessness as they relate to conflict and peace-building and; the impacts of statelessness on minority or indigenous communities.

3.   Responses to Statelessness

Academic and policy perspectives examining both the challenges and good practices when responding to statelessness may be considered. Areas of interest include research methods to study statelessness; the function and content of protection mechanisms for stateless persons; addressing protracted statelessness situations; successful efforts to reform nationality laws ; and addressing statelessness and its effects in the context of development assistance or disaster relief projects.

 

How to get involved: the success of the First Global Forum on Statelessness depends on its ability to attract a broad range of participants, from a broad ranges of backgrounds, disciplines and countries. If you have been researching statelessness and would like to present and discuss your findings, you will have the opportunity to apply to participate in a panel discussion. The same is true if you are working on statelessness policy or advocacy work, or if you would like to voice your experiences as a stateless or formerly stateless person. If you are only just starting out with some work on statelessness, don't worry: there's still time. The Global Forum is still 18 months away, but start planning! You can also get involved by sponsoring the event, by helping to support someone's participation or simply by helping us to spread the word about statelessness and about this gathering in particular.

 

More details will be available on Tilburg University and UNHCR's websites in a few weeks time...