Regulations.29 This flexible approach to proof of residence has allowed individuals who did not qualify for citizenship under the 1993 law, because this law required proof of permanent residence (propiska), to acquire Kyrgyz citizenship. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the 2013 citizenship regulations contain some important procedural guarantees pertaining to the process of determining if an individual is a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, a non-citizen or a stateless person. This includes a time limit of 10 days for checking a case in the Ministry of Interior information system, one month from the receipt of applications for determining whether an individual is a Kyrgyz citizen and two months if the application is received by a diplomatic representation or consular office. Importantly, applicants are also entitled to receive a reasoned response to their application and an explanation of the additional procedures to obtain a permanent residence permit. Reduction of statelessness through implementation of the nationality framework Since the 2007 Law entered into force, the Kyrgyz Government has collaborated with UNHCR to find ways to implement laws and policies on nationality to reduce statelessness. Three important initiatives have been undertaken to create awareness of further steps needed to resolve statelessness in Kyrgyzstan. Between 2009 and 2012, these initiatives helped approximately 45,000 people to replace old USSR passports and some 2,000 formerly stateless individuals to obtain citizenship by presidential decree, many with the assistance of UNHCR and its Kyrgyz NGO partners. 1. PILOT SURVEYS TO IDENTIFY THE PREVALENCE AND ONGOING CAUSES OF STATELESSNESS IN KYRGYZSTAN After passage of the 2007 Law, the Kyrgyz Government requested UNHCR to conduct a survey to support recommendations on how to improve the identification of stateless persons and resolve their status. UNHCR commissioned Kyrgyz NGOs to conduct three field studies in 2007 and 2008 to this end. The NGOs were asked to concentrate their research on the border regions in the north and south of the country. The surveys found some 13,000 stateless persons in 18 districts in four provinces. They confirmed that most of these stateless persons had resided in Kyrgyzstan for many years and were an integral part of the Kyrgyz social fabric, with close family and cultural links to the country. However, they continued to face problems in acquiring Kyrgyz nationality, primarily because they did not have the right identity documents to establish their eligibility to confirm or acquire nationality through the improved legal framework. The surveys have helped the ongoing effort to improve the by-laws and administrative procedures relating to citizenship and documentation. 2. DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTER-GOVERNMENTAL STATELESSNESS STRATEGY After UNHCR and its civil-society partners presented the results of their surveys and the recommendations arising from them to the Kyrgyz Government at a roundtable meeting in 2008, an inter-agency process was launched with the goal of resolving statelessness in the country. A first High-Level Steering Meeting on the Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2009, jointly chaired by the State Registration Service of the Kyrgyz Government and UNHCR, led to the adoption of a National Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness. The outbreak of violence in Kyrgyzstan in 2010 delayed deliberations and progress temporarily. However, a second High Level Steering Committee Meeting held in 2011 resulted in the adoption of a revised and updated National Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness.30 29 Para. 53 of the 2013 Citizenship Regulation. 30 The key actions that the Kyrgyz Government has committed to undertake to address statelessness include: the continued accelerated exchange of old Soviet passports by the State Registration Service; pursuit of a comprehensive survey on statelessness; awareness-raising among stateless persons of their rights and duties; drafting and adoption of by-laws and instructions to comply with the 2007 Law; the introduction of changes in the legislative and administrative frameworks in Kyrgyzstan to improve provision of birth registration to all children; development and adoption of a statelessness determination procedure; and steps to accede to the 1954 and 1961 Conventions. 17 CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS