CHAPTER I CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII RECOMMENDATIONS 6 CHAPTER IV While this guide focuses on good practices, to meaningfully address statelessness, it is also necessary to acknowledge that certain laws, policies and practices, both within and beyond the direct sphere of nationality, create a context in which cases of statelessness are perpetuated and persist. In current global political and legal systems, State sovereignty and the legal bond between a citizen and their State remain all important. Allowing people to remain stateless undermines the values of democracy, freedom and human rights. Some practices exclude stateless people from vital services and potential solutions. For example, in some States, legal aid is available in theory, but is impractical for stateless people to access because of gaps in the legal aid regime, such as the restriction of legal aid to people who do not have identity documents and/or legal status. This denies access to potential solutions, because many stateless people have no identity documents and cannot acquire legal status without legal aid. In addition, some governments perpetuate barriers to the effective resolution of lack of nationality when they impose restrictions that inhibit peaceful, rights-based advocacy or research on statelessness by civil society organizations, particularly those that receive funding from international donors. Statelessness is a global phenomenon with local dimensions, and States should actively seek and support collaborative solutions, including with the financial CHAPTER III The aim of this guide is to encourage OSCE participating States to adopt good practices to address and prevent childhood statelessness, ensure universal birth registration and implement other positive measures to protect stateless children. The guide summarizes the international legal framework relating to the prevention of childhood statelessness and provides examples of good practices from selected OSCE participating States. The examples illustrate particular aspects of good practices that may be replicated or adjusted as necessary. They should be implemented together with other positive measures to address statelessness and protect children’s rights. The examples were selected to show a range of: geographies, reasons for statelessness, a variety of possible solutions, and gender and ethnic considerations. This guide focuses exclusively on good practices, and examples are in some cases historic rather than current. Some examples are snapshots of particular good practices, while others include more detailed summaries of a country’s broader approach to statelessness. None should be considered to indicate that any specific State has an entirely effective approach to preventing childhood statelessness or protecting stateless children. CHAPTER II as Secretariat for the Alliance, and the OSCE participates in the Alliance through the memberships of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the High Commissioner on National Minorities.6 Global Alliance to End Statelessness website. ANNEXES 3