31 1. GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS 1.1 Elevate the goal of ending childhood statelessness as a major policy priority, including with regard to the design and implementation of National Action Plans initiated under the framework of UNHCR’s #ibelong campaign which seeks to eradicate statelessness within a decade. 1.2 Promote the mainstreaming of childhood statelessness in the policy discourses and strategic plans of all relevant stakeholders, including through the dissemination of this report. 1.3 Build on ENS’s regional conference “None of Europe’s Children Should be Stateless”, and the resulting Action Statement, as a catalyst and guide for concerted and joint action by a diverse range of stakeholders. 1.4 Develop effective communications strategies, including the harnessing of social and digital media, in order to share knowledge of the causes and consequences of childhood statelessness with a much wider audience and thereby increase societal and political pressure. 1.5 Translate increased awareness about the problem of childhood statelessness into a greater mobilisation of resources in support of measures aimed at addressing this. 1.6 Underscore and complement awareness-raising gains with new targeted research to plug information gaps, as well as deepen knowledge of why/where childhood statelessness occurs, and good practices to address it. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS TO GOVERNMENTS 2.1 Accede to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the 1997 European Convention on Nationality, including states that have already pledged to do so. 2.2 Implement measures to fulfil children’s right to a nationality, in accordance with article 7 of the CRC and General Comment No. 5 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child,239 which include – as needed – treaty accession,240 the removal of reservations, legislative reform, National Action Plans, Child Rights Impact Assessments, outreach and information campaigns, training and capacity building, data collection, collaboration with civil society and international cooperation. 2.3 Conduct a comprehensive review of all relevant laws, regulations and practices, assessing compatibility against international standards and child rights principles (including the best interests of the child). 2.4 Adopt amendments to national laws, policy guidelines and/or further implementing measures to address all situations in which children born in the territory or to citizen parents can be left stateless, as well as to address barriers to birth registration for vulnerable groups, taking into account the need to ensure acquisition of a nationality immediately or soon after birth. 2.5 Review and improve data collection and reporting methods relating to childhood statelessness, including birth registration (with due respect for data protection and confidentiality). Ensure that this is disaggregated by age and gender. 2.6 Build the capacity of relevant administrative and judicial bodies to proactively identify and address situations of childhood statelessness – including among cases of “unknown nationality” – and ensure that decisions/ actions are taken in accordance with relevant international standards, jurisprudence and related authoritative guidance of international bodies such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child and UNHCR. 2.7 Encourage, through bilateral and multilateral external relations policy the adoption of more effective measures to prevent and reduce statelessness in countries outside the region, in particular to repeal any discriminatory laws or practices affecting children’s access to nationality. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS TO REGIONAL ACTORS Council of Europe 3.1 Promote further ratifications of the European Convention on Nationality and the comprehensive implementation in national law and practice of Convention standards for the avoidance of statelessness, with due regard for the general principles of the right to a nationality, non-discrimination and best interests of the child such that access to nationality for stateless children is not contingent on their own or their parents’ residence status. 3.2 Identify good practice and facilitate awareness raising as well as information exchange among parliamentarians and policy makers on the importance of, and measures for, ending childhood statelessness in Europe. 3.3 Strengthen the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights relating to nationality as a protected element of a person’s identity, including by providing further normative guidance on the role of the principle of best interests of the child in the context of the avoidance of childhood statelessness. European Union 3.4 Implement the pledge made in 2012 for all EU Member States yet to accede to the 1961 Convention to explore doing so, and periodically report on progress in this regard. 3.5 Increase attention on the causes, impact and solutions of childhood statelessness in Europe, across all relevant European Union institutions, and identify areas of EU policy which provide an avenue for strengthening efforts to mitigate the effects of childhood statelessness and improve children’s enjoyment of the right to a nationality. 3.6 Ensure that issues around childhood statelessness are mainstreamed in the upcoming renewal of the EU child rights agenda, the Forum on the Rights of the Child, the Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies and the European Commission’s Investing in Children Recommendations. Monitor the application of this, including through the European Parliament’s Inter Group on Children’s Rights. 3.7 Promote the systematic generation and dissemination of reliable data on children affected by statelessness and on children’s access to nationality by EU Member States as a means to better identify trends, gaps and good practices. 3.8 Stimulate states around the world to address discriminatory or otherwise problematic laws and practices affecting children’s right to a nationality, including through the European External Action Service, and by using multilateral fora such as the UN Human Rights Council. To this endeavour, provide political and financial support to initiatives related to ending childhood statelessness, including the UNHCR #ibelong campaign.