Commemoration of the Judicial Decision 168-13 with participation of civil society and persons affected by the decision. ©UNHCR Implementation of the Global Action Plan to End Statelessness Action 1: Resolve existing major situations of statelessness From 11 to 13 September, in Mali, UNHCR and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights organized a workshop to review and update the National Action Plan to combat statelessness. The workshop provided an opportunity for the Inter-Ministerial Committee on statelessness to evaluate the initial action plan developed under the #IBelong Campaign, which concluded this year. As a result, a new four-year national action plan has been developed to guide future efforts to end statelessness. In August, in Thailand, the Ministry of Interior Department of provincial administration, conducted assessment missions in Kanchanaburi and Sa Kaeo provinces. National experts offered technical guidance to local civil registration officials on policies and procedures, used for processing permanent residency applications. As a result, 143 applications were reviewed and advanced to the next stages. Action 2: Ensure that no child is born stateless In Montenegro, UNHCR and the Ministry of Interior finalized the Standard operating procedures (SOPs) for implementing Article 7 of the Law on Montenegrin citizenship, which allows children born in Montenegro who would otherwise be stateless to acquire Montenegrin citizenship. The SOPs emphasize the best interests of the child and the right to nationality. Respective capacity-building for Ministry’s officials is scheduled for 2025. Between 8 and 12 July in Nigeria, UNHCR’s partner, the Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu Foundation (BAAF), and the National population commission facilitated the birth registration of 19,599 children across three Local government areas in Cross River state. Action 7: Ensure birth registration for the prevention of statelessness In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Interinstitutional technical committee to combat statelessness registered 10,800 children through the suppletive judgment procedure, including 3,300 children in Kasai Central, 5,000 in South Kivu, and 2,500 in North Kivu. This registration campaign will continue in October in the provinces of Tanganyika, Ituri, and North Kivu. In Montenegro, UNHCR, Civic Alliance, and NGO Help organized information sessions in five municipalities (Nikšić, Berane, Podgorica, Bar, and Budva) to raise awareness about the critical role of birth registration in preventing statelessness. These sessions targeted Roma and Egyptian communities and reached over 120 participants. The initiative seeks to overcome barriers to accessing identity UNHCR > The Campaign to End Statelessness | July – September 2024 Update 2