stakeholder analysis mapping actors engaged in statelessness-related work. This report should therefore be seen as a first step towards a clearer identification of the populations of concern affected by statelessness in Côte d’Ivoire in order to craft the most appropriate solutions to address their concerns. But more needs to be done. 1.2. What is “statelessness?” Article 15 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights enshrines the universal norm that “everyone has a right to a nationality.” A corollary to this right is the increasing global consensus prohibiting statelessness. Two international treaties form the international legal foundation on statelessness. The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons establishes the minimum standards of treatment that States must accord to stateless persons. The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness establishes measures for States to undertake to ensure that statelessness does not arise at birth for children born in its territory, to its nationals abroad, upon loss or deprivation of a country’s nationality, and in the context of State succession. Article 1 of the 1954 Statelessness Convention defines a stateless person as “a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.” Here, “law” is meant to “be read broadly to encompass not just legislation, but also ministerial decrees, regulations, orders, judicial case law (in countries with a tradition of precedent) and, where appropriate, customary practice.”7 Whether a person is stateless is not just a question of applying a country’s law(s) but also how those laws and regulations are implemented in practice, which is a mixed question of fact and law.8 Determining whether a person is statelessness requires identifying all of the countries with which an individual has a link, such as place of birth, filiation, marriage, or habitual residence,9 and then analyzing whether the person is considered as a national pursuant to the laws and policies of these States. Some populations or groups can be “at risk of statelessness because they have difficulties proving they possess links to a State.”10 Birth registration is the most important document for establishing which country’s nationality a child can acquire as it provides an official record of place of birth and parentage. Birth registration rates in many developing countries are low, leaving significant portions of the general populace unregistered or without proof of identity. Yet it cannot be said in all instances that the failure to register one’s birth or to possess a birth certificate renders someone at risk of statelessness. Rather, lack of birth registration – or other forms of personal identification – becomes relevant for the following groups of persons who are at particular risk of statelessness: (1) people living in border areas; (2) individuals (sometimes ethnic or religious minorities or groups) who have perceived or actual ties with foreign States; (3) cross-border nomadic or semi-nomadic groups; and (4) migrant populations, particularly with successive generations of children born abroad.11 This report addresses how gaps in nationality legislation, administrative obstacles including ones related to birth registration and other identification documentation, legal challenges related to nationality as a result of Côte d’Ivoire’s emergence as an independent State after colonialism, and discrimination contribute to statelessness in this context. It then identifies and discusses specific populations in Côte d’Ivoire that fall into all of the above generalized categories. 7 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 30 June 2014, para. 22. Id., para. 23. 9 Id., para. 18. 10 UNHCR, UNHCR Action to Address Statelessness: A Strategy Note, March 2010, para. 33. 11 Id., para. 35. 8 6