Table 3: Outcomes Evidenced in three countries on GAP Actions 1, 8 and 10
Highlighted Example
Type of Outcome
Evidenced
Country
Nepal
Dominican Republic
Thailand
Type 1, Type 2, Type 3
Type 1, Type 2, Type 3
Type 1, Type 2
Actions 8 and 10: UNHCR’s
implementing partner FWLD has
carried out research highlighting
that 6.7 million people in 2021 are
without citizenship certificates
which is the most reliable figure
available. In addition, FWLD
carries out legal reform and legal
assistance, and training with
Parliamentarians
Actions 1 and 8: In 2020, President
Medina issued a Presidential Decree
to naturalize 750 cases of Group B
individuals. This is the first in the
available legal pathway to nationality
for Group B2. Of these, 708 were
supported by UNHCR and partners
to compile documents. Advocacy
from civil society and U.S.
diplomacy were considered key
catalysts for the decree.
Actions 1 and 8: Through UNHCR
funding of its implementing partner,
ADRA, thousands of stateless
persons in the Chiang Rai region
have been supported to access their
citizenship documents despite a
complicated and difficult to
understand
legal
environment.
Through engagement with the
#IBelong Campaign, there has been
consistent high-level attention to the
issue.
Table 3, above, highlights country-level outcomes on GAP Actions 1,8, and 10 in the three countries. Action
8 featured prominently in all the countries. PRM’s strategy through its implementation at the country level,
is where the evaluation saw the most concrete outcomes. While in Nepal and the Dominican Republic there
was limited engagement with the #IBelong Campaign and PRM’s multilateral diplomacy, the Dominican
Republic showcased the strength of U.S. bilateral diplomacy coupled with UNHCR’s actions, while Nepal
showcased how UNHCR can continue to make progress in a politicized environment. However, UNHCR
has not made significant progress on these GAP Actions. Some common reasons for this lack of progress
evident in the three countries are (1) CSOs are generally underfunded, both for legal aid and advocacy,
which impedes progress on both Actions 1 and 8. On legal aid, UNHCR’s reach in Thailand is in one region
despite the scale of the problem and in Nepal CSOs are the only ones taking up the issue despite the huge
needs. (2) Discrimination around race, caste, or ethnic minority status features heavily as a core underlying
issue, particularly for Action 1, but there is little to no programming to address it. (3) Coalition-building
and raising public awareness was considered critical to addressing statelessness but insufficient funding or
diplomatic initiatives were evidenced to support this work. (4) There is little data on statelessness in Nepal
and insufficient, independent data on statelessness in Thailand, impeding progress on Action 10.
Impact of COVID-19. Most informants highlighted the concern about the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on vulnerable stateless and at-risk of statelessness populations, given that they are not prioritized
to access needed health support, relief, and social protection programs, nor is it clear that they will be
vaccinated. Paradoxically, COVID-19 was seen as yet another emergency to be prioritized above the
statelessness issue. In all the three countries, there was evidence of UNHCR, either on its own, through
partners, or through advocacy with the government, providing stateless persons with short-term support
such as hygiene kits or access to government programs.
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