APPENDIX VII: Letter to a government official [Your name] [Your (school’s) address] [Name of the official] [Office or Email Address] [Date] Subject: [Sentence summarising the topic / main message of the letter] Dear [Name Member of Parliament], I am/We are writing to you because I am/we are concerned about the issue of statelessness, especially stateless children in [your country, area, continent etc]. At school, I/we learned about the issue of childhood statelessness and I/we think the government should consider childhood statelessness as a serious problem because it affects many children across the globe. I would like to ask you to provide me with information on what the situation regarding statelessness is in [your country, area, continent etc] and what the parliament/city council do to address the issue. International law defines a “stateless person” as someone who is not considered as a national or a citizen by any State. Worldwide, an estimated 15 million people are stateless. This means that, [Explain in your own words what statelessness is and what impact statelessness can have on a person’s life]. I would thus like to know the situation in [your country, area, continent etc]. What are the most crucial statelessness/nationality matters in [your country etc.]? For instance, how many stateless persons live in [your country etc.]? Why are they stateless? Are there specific communities affected by statelessness in [your country etc.]? [Request the Member of Parliament to explain how the government is addressing the issue and explain the urgent need to resolve statelessness] [Politely ask the Member of Parliament if he or she can respond to your request and handle this issue with care and a great sense of responsibility] Yours Sincerely, [Your name] 66