Croatia HIGHLIGHTS OF PROMOTION EFFORTS àà In 2008 UNHCR developed a dual-track strategy, campaigning for Croatia’s accession to the 1961 Statelessness Convention while simultaneously continuing to implement its operational programming to prevent and reduce statelessness, particularly among the Roma. àà The Croatian version of the UNHCR / Inter-Parliamentary Union publication, Nationality and Statelessness: A Handbook for Parliamentarians was launched in Parliament in December 2009. In 2011, UNHCR advocated on statelessness issues with the Croatian Government using Croatian-language versions of the two UNHCR Brochures on the Statelessness Conventions. àà A European Commission-funded social inclusion project supported a strategic partnership between UNHCR and the Croatian Ombudsman’s Office to dispatch mobile legal clinics to Roma communities. The clinics helped individuals to obtain the documentation necessary to acquire nationality. àà Croatia deposited its instrument of accession to the 1961 Convention at a treaty event at UN Headquarters in New York on 22 September 2011. àà Following its accession to the Convention, Croatia hosted a regional conference on Provision of Civil Documentation and Registration in South-Eastern Europe. The Zagreb Declaration adopted at the conference underscored the commitment of all governments in the region to improve civil registration to prevent statelessness among the Roma. Croatia pledged at the 2011 Ministerial Meeting to undertake concrete measures to this end. Behind-the-scene efforts to realize Croatia’s accession to the 1961 Statelessness Convention When Croatia emerged from the former Yugoslavia as an independent State, it became party to the 1954 Statelessness Convention by succession. Its accession to the 1961 Statelessness Convention in 2011 marked the culmination of a multi-year, dual-track strategy on the part of UNHCR that combined a campaign to promote accession to the Convention alongside the provision of technical support and assistance to prevent and reduce statelessness in Croatia, particularly among the Roma. In 2008, UNHCR and the Council of Europe convened a round table entitled, “Regularization of the legal status of Roma: Progress achieved and remaining problems,” which highlighted the persistence and scale of statelessness among Roma communities in Croatia. The meeting helped identify factors contributing to the creation of statelessness among Roma in the Western Balkans, including the legacy of displacement from the former Yugoslav republics, which renders it difficult for members of the community to obtain personal identification documents or otherwise prove important civil registration events related to nationality. The meeting concluded with a call for regional cooperation and flexible evidentiary rules to provide Roma with the civil documentation required to acquire nationality. Mobilized by greater awareness of the challenges in addressing statelessness in Croatia, UNHCR embarked on its dual-track strategy in 2009. It forged relationships with government counterparts to raise awareness of the persistence of statelessness in Croatia. Focusing on the important role the Croatian Parliament plays in enacting legislation to address statelessness, UNHCR translated its joint publication with the Inter-Parliamentary Union entitled Nationality and Statelessness: A Handbook for Parliamentarians into Croatian and launched it in Parliament in December 2009 at an event presided over by the Deputy Speaker and featuring speakers from a range of political parties. Following on from this, UNHCR continued to work with parliamentarians and members of the Croatian Government to promote accession to the 1961 Statelessness Convention. 6 CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS