Expert Meeting Interpreting the 1961 Statelessness Convention and Preventing Statelessness among Children Summary Conclusions Expert meeting convened by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Open Society Justice Initiative, Dakar, Senegal, 23-24 May 2011 The third in a series of expert meetings on statelessness, convened in the context of the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961 Convention), this event focused on interpreting Articles 1 to 4 of the 1961 Convention and the safeguards contained therein for preventing statelessness, particularly among children.1 Professor Gerard-René de Groot prepared a background paper for the meeting. Thirty-three participants from eighteen countries with experience in government, NGOs, academia, the judiciary, the legal profession and international organizations contributed to the debate and conclusions. The meeting discussed the grant of nationality to persons, particularly children, who would otherwise be stateless and who are either born in the territory of a State or born to a State’s nationals abroad. A significant part of the discussion examined when a child, or person, is “otherwise stateless” for the purposes of the Convention. The discussion also addressed the grant of nationality to foundlings and the extension of the territorial scope of the Convention to ships and planes flying the flag of the State party concerned. Throughout the meeting, participants looked at the obligations arising under the 1961 Convention in light of universal and regional human rights treaties. The following summary conclusions do not necessarily represent the individual views of participants or those of UNHCR, but reflect broadly the key understandings and recommendations that emerged from the discussion. 1 UNHCR has convened a series of expert meetings on statelessness doctrine in the context of the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The discussions are in preparation for the drafting of guidelines under UNHCR’s statelessness mandate on the following five issues: (i) the definition of a “stateless person” in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons; (ii) the concept of de facto statelessness; (iii) procedures for determining whether a person is stateless; (iv) the status (in terms of rights and obligations) to be accorded to stateless persons under national law; and (v) the scope of international legal safeguards for preventing statelessness among children or at birth.