Ms. Sophie Muller, UNHCR representative in Spain, inaugurates the Commemorative Day of the 70th Anniversary of the 1954 Convention in Madrid, together with the Director General of International Protection, Mr. Octavio Rivera, and the Deputy of the Bar Association, Mr. Emilio Ramirez. ©UNHCR End Statelessness. The conference emphasized Montenegro’s future commitments to resolving statelessness and advancing socio-economic rights for stateless individuals. The Ministry of the Interior pledged continued efforts to improve procedures, strengthen institutional capacities, amend legal frameworks, and enhance digital solutions for documentation. In October, in Spain, a conference was held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the 1954 Convention on Statelessness. Jointly organized by UNHCR, the Ministry of Interior, and the Bar Association, the event brought together over 80 participants, including civil society, stateless persons, and authorities. The conference provided a forum for discussing Spain’s statelessness system, recognizing good practices, and addressing future challenges. On 25 October 2024, in Ukraine, UNHCR together with the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine, hosted a one-day forum in Kyiv to commemorate the end of the #IBELONG campaign to end statelessness in Ukraine. Over 60 participants gathered from UN agencies, civil society, donor states and stateless persons to reflect on achievements in the past decade and towards a future with greater collective action. Three main issue areas were discussed: reducing barriers to birth registration and documentation; championing group solutions then and now; and preventing future situations of statelessness. On 12-13 December, Kyiv hosted the Forum “Citizenship and Statelessness in Ukraine: War and Post-War Challenges,” dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the #IBelong campaign. The event was organized by Right to Protection Foundation (R2P), with the support of UNHCR and the Institute of International Relations of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The event was attended by representatives of the Ombudsman, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, the Educational and Scientific Institute of International Relations of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Judges, and nongovernmental human rights organizations. The event served as platform for exchanging views and finding common solutions to the problem of statelessness between representatives of the executive bodies, civil society, the judicial system, and academia. In November, in Angola, UNHCR and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights organised a statelessness retreat aimed at developing a National Action Plan for the prevention and eradication of statelessness. UNHCR will continue to engage with the Ministry of Justice and other relevant stakeholders to ensure the approval and adoption of the National Action Plan. The adoption of the National Action Plan forms part of Angola’s pledges under the GRF. UNHCR > The Campaign to End Statelessness | October – December 2024 Update 9