Chapter III. PLEDGES HUNGARY PLEDGE FORM The Government of the Republic of Hungary pledges to initiate the legislative procedure aimed at modifying Act II of 2002, promulgating the 1954 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. This modification will create the possibility for Hungary to withdraw the declaration made to Articles 23 and 24 of the 1954 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, thus ensuring the full enjoyment of the rights contained in those articles to all stateless recognized by the Republic of Hungary. The Republic of Hungary believes that this withdrawal enables the possibility to better ensure the rights of more stateless people in need of protection. The Government of the Republic of Hungary pledges to continue the promotion of the United Nations Conventions relating to the status of stateless persons (1954) and on the reduction of statelessness (1961). Hungary is one of the handful states in the world, which are not only parties to both UN Conventions on statelessness but also have a formalized and operational statelessness determination procedure. This year not only do we celebrate the anniversary of the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention but also the 1961 Convention. Statelessness is a global phenomenon which States strive to combat but the battle is long and challenging. As Hungary has gathered significant knowledge and expertise in this field, we wish to pledge these best practices and experiences. In this context the Republic of Hungary pledges to share its best practices, tools and experiences with all interested States in the framework of seminars or study visits. The Government of the Republic of Hungary hereby pledges to work together with UNHCR in order to create and establish a quality assurance mechanism in the statelessness determination procedure. We will carry out this task in very close cooperation with UNHCR, building on the experiences and best practices of the projects “Asylum Quality Assurance and Evaluation Mechanism” and “Further Developing Quality”. This will create a new and unique mechanism and as a novelty it will hopefully be a potential best practice in the future for other States as well. In autumn 2010, a governmental decision was made on Hungary’s launching a national resettlement programme. The legal basis for resettlement already exists in the Hungarian Asylum Act. In response to the “Arab spring” this year a Governmental Decision (No. 1139/2011) was adopted on the launch of an asylum solidarity programme in relation to the situation in the North African area. On the basis of this Decision, Hungary shall focus its resettlement commitment on the North African region. As a first national resettlement operation, it is considered a pilot programme. The outcome 81