enrolled in the civil records. This was an example in Serbia, which introduced such a procedure in 2012 and reduced significantly the number of unregistered persons in the country. 41. While these developments are welcome, it is important to bear in mind Macedonia’s obligation to register all births immediately (CRC Article 7), without discrimination (CRC Article 2). It is only through the immediate birth registration and acquisition of nationality, that a child’s best interests are served. In this context, the intersectional discrimination faced by Roma women, who due to their ethnicity, poverty and gender, face barriers to registering the births of their children, must be addressed as an urgent matter that undermines both the equal rights of women and children. A further consideration in this regard is Macedonia’s target under Goal 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals to provide birth registration for all. Statelessness Determination and naturalisation 42. Related to the challenges around registration, documentation and acquisition of nationality highlighted above, are those of statelessness status determination and naturalisation. 43. While Macedonia has an obligation to ensure that all persons who have a right to Macedonian nationality can exercise this right without any impediment (including Roma who have been denied documentation), it should also implement a dedicated statelessness determination procedure to ensure that all stateless persons who live in Macedonia (and who do not have a right to Macedonia nationality) are identified, protected and offered pathways to facilitated naturalisation. 44. However, Macedonia does not at present have a specific procedure for the determination of statelessness.22 The identification of stateless persons is critical in a country’s ability to guarantee the rights of stateless persons living within its borders. Thus, Macedonia has the obligation to ‘identify stateless persons in order to accord them appropriate standards of treatment under the Convention.’23 A formal statelessness determination procedure would offer the most effective means to protect the rights of stateless persons who do not have the right to Macedonian nationality, and would assist the State in its implementation of its statelessness safeguard.24 It would also allow Macedonia to better understand the extent of statelessness on its territory and to better monitor the status and treatment of stateless persons.25 45. In order to determine statelessness in full accordance with the 1954 Convention, a statelessness determination procedure should, according to the UNHCR Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, be simple, accessible to everyone within the territory, and be fair and efficient.26 The procedure should be formalised in law and observe due process guarantees.27 In compliance with these standards, Macedonia’s statelessness determination procedure should provide for a shared 22 For more details, see https://index.statelessness.eu/country/macedonia UNHCR, Statelessness Handbook, para 144. 24 UNHCR, Good Practices Paper – Action 6: Establishing Statelessness Determination Procedures to Protect Stateless Persons, 11 July 2016, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/57836cff4.html, p. 2. 25 UNHCR, Global Action Plan to End Statelessness, Action 6, 4 November 2014, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/545b47d64.html; UNHCR, Mapping Statelessness in Austria, January 2017, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/58b6e5b14.html, para 125. 26 UNHCR, Statelessness Handbook, paras. 63, 68 and 69. 27 Ibid, para 71. 23 10