1 RIGHT TO A NATIONALITY 2 STATELESSNESS FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION LOOKING FORWARD A STRUCTURAL PROBLEM Nationality denial as a result of discrimination against: • • • • Discrimination against stateless people women minorities migrants disabled persons Central to denial of other rights, exacerbated by: COVID-19 NATIONALS PRIORITISED FOR RELIEF Largest cause of statelessness IMPACT ON THE STATELESS • • • DEEPENS STRUCTURAL DISCRIMINATION denied documents hate speech intergenerational impact TARGETED FOR EXCLUSION & INSTITUTIONAL BLINDNESS 4 RIGHT TO HEALTHCARE • • • • emergency health care hygiene & sanitation vaccinations information • • • • TOGETHER WE CAN: A CONSORTIUM TO PROTECT THE STATELESS IN TIMES OF COVID-19 Through the Consortium, partners mutually benefit through expertise sharing and comparative analysis, as well ISI’s capacity building, advocacy and networking expertise. We organise workshops to address Consortium members’ needs, through trainings and exchange of expertise on skills such as research, advocacy, communications and outreach. We also bring in external expertise and connect partners to pro bono law firms and research experts. • • • • TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE! CIVIL & POLITICAL RIGHTS movement - seperated by borders liberty - detained expression - silenced assembly - denied The exclusion or marginalisation of the stateless in COVID-19 responses is characteristic of how they have always been treated. Historically, state-stateless relationships have ranged between enforced invisibility and indifference, bureaucratic violence and exclusion, and targeted persecution or even genocide. Unless the status quo is urgently challenged, the COVID-19 impacts on the stateless will be immense, and for many, irreversible. The challenge is ensuring continued engagement on longer-term structural causes, whilst recognising and addressing the COVID-19 crisis and its immediate (and lasting) impact on the stateless. RESPONSE: Advocacy Awareness & visibility Donor outreach Information sharing Peer learning Capacity development Joined up strategy Solidarity work - denied livelihoods school - denied education social security - denied relief standard of living - entrenched poverty and we will engage in concerted advocacy around it. We are also currently speaking to potential new partners in a number of countries, with whom we hope to begin implementing new and exciting projects. None of this work would be possible without our inspirational partners, and generous donors. PROBLEM: OUTWARD FACING INWARD FACING 5 OTHER SOCIOECONOMIC RIGHTS IMPACT REPORT ON COVID-19 AND STATELESSNESS, WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE THESE PLANS A REALITY. JOIN US BY SUPPORTING THE CESF. FURTHER WIDENING DISPARITIES & ENTRENCHING MARGINALISATION 3 In June 2021, the Consortium will be launching its new A consortium approach The CESF Consortium connects and elevates the work of all partners. This is not merely a fund which supports strong projects around the world; it facilitates true collaboration between all partners. This model – based on solidarity and peer-support – has enabled us to collectively make a greater impact, that is both inward facing (improving our expertise, organisations and activism) and outward facing (better serving our communities and pursuing structural change). “ CESF The Consortium is an unusual, modern form of cooperation that easily connects countries that seemingly have nothing in common, contributing to the understanding of the universality of the problem, the need to network and act at the national and global level at the same time. The Consortium creates this simultaneous global action with one goal - to help the most excluded group, stateless people, during a pandemic.” “ CONSORTIUM CESF Consortium Member, Phiren Amenca Roma Youth Organisation, Montenegro The Consortium connects activists and grassroot organizations who face similar forms of discrimination due to (risk of) statelessness. We learn from each other through exchanging presentations, trainings, workshops and webinars”. CESF Consortium Member, Nubian Rights Forum, Kenya We collectively raise international attention and exert pressure on states and other stakeholders who continue to discriminate against and exclude the stateless in COVID-19 responses. Last year, we facilitated a joint civil society statement with 83 organisations ‘IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE STATELESS’; published an IMPACT REPORT and hosted a WEBINAR ‘Stateless in a Global Pandemic’; released a BRIEFING PAPER and hosted a WEBINAR ‘What Now for the Rohingya?’. We have also drawn attention to the issue through a DEDICATED WEBINAR and SERIES OF VIDEOS. We continue to engage in direct advocacy with multiple states, UN agencies, humanitarian and development actors, and spread awareness through webinars, audio-visual materials, op-eds and publications. We will continue to strengthen advocacy, build capacities and reach out to other, marginalised groups, both in times of crisis and beyond. “ The joint statement, ISI impact report and your correspondence draw much-needed attention to matters affecting stateless persons in these challenging times. We welcome your partnership in this “ regard and commend your advocacy for the human rights of vulnerable communities.” Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees ISI is the only human rights organisation dedicated to working globally on behalf of approximately fifteen million stateless persons and tens of millions of persons whose nationality is at risk. Our knowledge and networks have put us in a unique position to effectively and sustainably respond to COVID-19 through our COVID-19 Statelessness Emergency Statelessness Fund (CESF).