will elaborate further on the 1954 Convention when discussing the obligations provided by this Convention. The 1961 Convention will also be discussed in more detail. In June 2014, UNHCR published the Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons which provides interpretative legal guidance for governments, NGOs, legal practitioners, decision-makers, the judiciary and other stakeholders working on statelessness. The Handbook addresses the definition of a stateless person, procedures to determine who is stateless and the legal status of stateless persons at the national level. UNHCR’s Guidelines on Statelessness No. 4 address the prevention of statelessness at birth under the 1961 Convention.12 Developed on the basis of consultations with international experts and a broad range of stakeholders, the Handbook and the Guidelines will be used in the report to elucidate the obligations stemming from the Conventions. Other international human rights instruments contain provisions relevant for issues relating to nationality and statelessness. Instruments, like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) contain provisions on the right to a nationality, on equal treatment of men and women, and on the prohibition of discrimination. Besides these instruments, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is, according to its Article 1(A) under (2) applicable on stateless refugees. At the European regional level, the Council of Europe has adopted two instruments of particular relevance to the question of statelessness. The 1997 European Convention on Nationality13 entered into force in 2000 and currently has twenty State Parties.14 In its Article 4, the European Convention on Nationality states that the rules on nationality of each State Party shall be based on, among others, the principle that statelessness shall be avoided. While broader in scope, covering a range of questions relating to the acquisition and loss of nationality, this instrument contains safeguards similar to those found in the 1961 Convention. Article 6(2) of the European Convention on Nationality provides a safeguard against statelessness at birth similar to that of the 1961 Convention. In addition, Article 7 or the European Convention on Nationality, on the loss of nationality ex lege or at the initiative of a State Party, contains a safeguard against statelessness as well. The European Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to the Succession of States entered into force in 2009 and has, at the moment, six State Parties.15 It elaborates rules for the acquisition of nationality with a view to preventing statelessness in the particular context of state succession. In addition to these two specific instruments, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is also increasingly relevant to the prevention of statelessness and protection of stateless persons. Although the ECHR does not explicitly protect the right to a nationality, the European Court of Human Rights which is in charge of ensuring the rights contained in the ECHR are not violated, has recognized in its jurisprudence that the impact of the denial of citizenship on a person’s social identity brings it within the scope of Article 8 of the ECHR, which enshrines the right to respect for private and family life.16 Furthermore, the ECHR sets out rights to be enjoyed by all persons within a state’s jurisdiction, whether they are the state’s own nationals, foreign nationals or stateless persons. 12 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, and UNHCR, 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, December 2012, available at: http://refworld.org/docid/50d460c72.html 13 Council of Europe, European Convention on Nationality, 6 November 1997, ETS 166, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b36618.html 14 Number provided by the Council of Europe’s Treaty Office as of August 2014., available at: http://goo.gl/k7bvWl 15 Number provided by the Council of Europe’s Treaty Office as of August 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/C5CWl5 16 See Genovese vs Malta (Application no. 53124/09), October 2011, available at http://goo.gl/lwNO9E UNHCR STOCKHOLM, NOVEMBER 2014 11