MAPPING OF THE POPULATION AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS IN ALBANIA Special thanks are owed to a large number of researchers, mainly from state structures and CSO partners. We are grateful to the key persons and direct beneficiaries who agreed to be interviewed in order to share their experiences and consented for their stateless cases to be analysed. In particular, TLAS want to thank the General Directorate of Civil Status, Directorate of Pre-University Education, Directorate of Primary Health Care, Directorate of Social Services and Child Protection structures, for their dedication and commitment. This report could not have been achieved without the help of persons at risk of statelessness who agreed to share their life experiences with TLAS’ interviewers. Interviews with persons at risk of statelessness and community representatives enriched the research with personal experience, their perception of their difficulties, their hopes and future plans. Indeed, recording life histories provided concrete and meaningful examples of the daily difficulties that persons at risk of stateless have to undergo and sometimes endure for their entire lives. The mapping exercise has been a joint effort with Albanian government ministries, including the General Directorate of Civil Status within the Ministry of Interior, Directory of Consulates within Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the General Directorate of Social Services and Directorate for Primary Care within the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Directorate of Pre-university Education, Ministry of Education, the Social Statistics Director at INSTAT, as well as with non-governmental and international organizations, including UNDP and UNICEF. The objective was to access the best possible sources of knowledge, as well as the stakeholders that play a role in prevention of statelessness. Finally, in addition to the field work with civil registration offices and other local institutions and interviews conducted as part of the project, the most recent census, data and surveys, gave the necessary statistical base for this report. As far as written documents are concerned, only part of the research material has been officially translated into English (international IO and NGO reports, national legislation and official websites). For the remaining sources (most of the by-laws, administrative acts and civil society reports) the authors used translations provided by colleagues or field practitioners. 1.2.1.2. Semantics used in this report For the sake of clarity, the term ‘citizenship’ will be preferred over ‘nationality’ in this report. Indeed, ‘citizenship’ is generally understood as the mere legal tie between the individual with the state, while ‘nationality’ can also be the informal membership or identification with a particular nation, encompassing people sharing a language, a culture, a religion, an emotional identity or a common ancestry. 14 UNHCR - TLAS / May 2018