The Campaign to
End Statelessness
January – March 2019 Update
#IBelong
Join us in our Campaign to End Statelessness
Mobilizing Governments and Civil Society
On 25 January, a new Guidance Note of the
Secretary-General on the United Nations and
Statelessness was issued. It replaces the 2011
Guidance Note on the same subject and contains
useful updates, including references to UNHCR’s
#IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness and
many new resources that have been produced to
assist States and others to address statelessness.
The Guidance Note and the accompanying UN Key
Messages on Statelessness document are designed
to support advocacy by actors across the UN
system, and particularly in the lead-up to the HighLevel Segment on Statelessness. The High-Level
Segment on Statelessness will take place on the
first day of UNHCR’s Executive Committee meeting,
on 7 October 2019, and will mark the mid-point of
the #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness by
2024. In March, UNHCR launched a website on
the High-Level Segment on Statelessness which
contains background information on the #IBelong
Campaign and guidance documents for States and
international organizations to submit pledges at the
event. In the lead-up to the High-Level Segment on
Statelessness, regional preparatory meetings are
being convened to review progress and prepare
pledges.
On 14 February, UNHCR and UNICEF jointly
issued an advocacy brief on Ending Childhood
Statelessness in Europe. The two agencies call on
States and regional organizations to take urgent
action to ensure that no child is born, or remains,
stateless in Europe and proposes a series of lowcost, effective and sustainable solutions.
1