30 RAMADAN v. MALTA JUDGMENT – SEPARATE OPINION formal mandate over statelessness22. In addition to setting detailed guidelines on various aspects of statelessness, including the definition of a stateless person, statelessness determination procedures, the status of stateless persons, and the prevention of statelessness at birth23, the UNHCR has developed a “Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014 – 2024” (the “Global Action Plan”), in consultation with States, civil society and international organisations, which sets out a guiding framework made up of 10 actions that need to be taken to end statelessness within 10 years, consisting of resolving existing major situations of statelessness, ensuring that no child is born stateless, removing gender discrimination from nationality laws, preventing denial, loss or deprivation of nationality on discriminatory grounds, preventing statelessness in cases of State succession, granting protection status to stateless migrants and facilitating their naturalisation, ensuring birth registration for the prevention of statelessness, issuing nationality documentation to those with entitlement to it, acceding to the United Nations Statelessness Conventions, and improving quantitative and qualitative data on stateless populations. States parties should introduce safeguards to prevent statelessness by granting their nationality to persons who would otherwise be stateless and are either born in their territory or are born abroad to one of their nationals. States should also have a provision in their nationality laws to grant nationality to children of unknown origin found in their territory (foundlings). 4. The Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, adopted on 30 August 1961 and which entered into force on 13 December 1975, aims to prevent, reduce and avoid statelessness by providing concrete and detailed measures to be taken by States parties to the Convention. It focuses on the four main causes of statelessness. Articles 1 to 4 set out measures to avoid statelessness among children. Articles 5 to 7 deal with statelessness due to loss or renunciation of nationality. Articles 8 § 1 and 9 concern measures to avoid statelessness due to deprivation of nationality. However, Article 8 § 2 of the 1961 Convention allows for an exhaustive set of circumstances under which deprivation of nationality resulting in statelessness is permissible. It does not prohibit the possibility of revocation of nationality under certain 22. For example, General Assembly Resolution 61/137 of 25 January 2007. 23. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), “Guidelines on Statelessness No. 1: The definition of ‘Stateless Person’ in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons”, cited above; “Guidelines on Statelessness No. 2: Procedures for Determining whether an Individual is a Stateless Person”, HCR/GS/12/02, 5 April 2012; “Guidelines on Statelessness No. 3: The Status of Stateless Persons at the National Level”, 17 July 2012 2012, HCR/GS/12/03; “Guidelines on Statelessness No. 4: Ensuring Every Child’s Right to Acquire a Nationality through Articles 1-4 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness”, HCR/GS/12/04, 21 December 2012. The 2013 European Network on Statelessness Guide of Good Practices “Statelessness, determination and the protection status of stateless persons”.