On 19 November, in the Asia-Pacific, the second Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific concluded with the adoption of a Ministerial Declaration on “Building a More Resilient Future with Inclusive Civil Registration and Vital Statistics”. The Declaration renews the commitment of member states to examine inequalities in birth registration systems and to remove barriers to civil registration that affect people in vulnerable situations. On 10 December, in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, UNHCR hosted a “Symposium on Prevention of Statelessness and Implementation of Universal Birth Registration in the Republic of Korea” which was attended by approximately 30 civil society actors, academia and government officials. During the symposium, two new reports were presented: a statelessness mapping study and a comparative study on statelessness determination procedures (SDPs) which includes a recommendation to introduce an SDP in the Republic of Korea. Participants from the Nationality Division of the Ministry of Justice agreed that the introduction of an SDP is necessary and welcomed further discussions on the issue. The Ministry of Justice also discussed a legislative proposal to allow registration of births of all foreigners living in the country, which would address a notable legal gap giving rise to risks of statelessness in the Republic of Korea. On 24 November, the government of The Philippines held an online symposium to present the results of the study “Legal Identity for All Women and Children in ASEAN: A Regional Synthesis”, which was attended by around 1,600 participants from government, academia, and civil society. At the event, the Government expressed its commitment to pursue the recommendations from the study and strengthen its civil registration system. On 16 December, Viet Nam’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) organized a workshop for government actors to examine accession to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The workshop follows a 2019 study on the country’s legal framework. The feedback and recommendations emanating from the workshop will inform a proposal for accession. On 10 December, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in The Philippines held a virtual public hearing on accession to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The Government has undertaken steps to accede to the convention since it made pledges to do so in 2011 and 2019. From 15 September to 5 November, in Central Asia, UNHCR, the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and the Central Asian Network on Statelessness organized the Second Regional Statelessness Paper Competition for Students to mark the 60th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. University students were invited to submit essays and research papers on the origins, impact and relevance of the 1961 Convention. In total, 43 papers were received from students from all Central Asian states. On 12 November, in Uzbekistan, the National Human Rights Centre and UNHCR held a workshop on nationality and statelessness in Tashkent to present the main findings of a legal analysis on nationality and statelessness in Uzbekistan. The analysis includes identified good practices, remaining gaps preventing access to nationality and recommendations. The workshop was attended by representatives of different ministries, Members of Parliament, the General Prosecutor’s Office and academia. On 25 and 26 November, in Kazakhstan, UNHCR conducted a workshop on statelessness determination for 39 representatives of the Migration Services Committee of the Ministry of Interior, officials from its territorial departments, and civil society partners. The workshop aimed at improving the identification and documentation of stateless people to ensure that they enjoy the rights to which they are entitled to until they acquire a nationality. On 1 November, UNHCR and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities virtually convened the 4th OSCE-UNHCR Seminar on Sharing Good Practices on Statelessness among OSCE Participating States which focused on the importance of statelessness statistics. Presentations by experts stressed the importance of gathering data on stateless populations, including through censuses, surveys, civil registries, and social services. UNHCR > The Campaign to End Statelessness | October – December 2021 Update 4