UNHCR launched the first global survey on steps taken by UN Member States to reduce statelessness and to meet the protection needs of stateless persons. The survey found that no region in the world is free from statelessness and that serious legislative and policy gaps remain, at both the international and the national levels. UNHCR has supported citizenship campaigns in which States allowed stateless persons to acquire the citizenship of the country in which they were long‑term habitual residents. UNHCR also assists stateless persons directly by consulting with the relevant States in an effort to find solutions for stateless individuals or groups. The organization encourages States to clarify the concerned individual’s legal status and promotes recognition of the legitimate ties between an individual or group of individuals and a State in cases where the person(s) concerned would otherwise be stateless. While waiting for their nationality status to be resolved, stateless persons are entitled to enjoy minimum rights in their countries of residence. UNHCR advocates for the implementation of the 1954 Convention, which provides for a set of minimal rights and obligations for stateless persons, and assists States in implementing, as necessary and resources permitting, protection and assistance programmes for stateless persons. UNHCR’s Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons provides further guidance in this regard. What other organizations work alongside UNHCR in addressing the problems relating to statelessness? The main UN agencies working with UNHCR to address statelessness are the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNICEF and UN Women. In solving protracted situations of statelessness, UNHCR also sometimes works with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP), by jointly implementing housing, education or income‑generating programmes to help marginalized communities integrate or reintegrate into the national society. In addition to the UN organizations mentioned above, UNHCR works in close collaboration with relevant UN treaty‑body mechanisms that ensure the right to a nationality, such as the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Human Rights Council and relevant United Nations Special Procedures. UNHCR cooperates with regional bodies, such as the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of American States, the African Union, the League of Arab States, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. UNHCR also participated in the Council of Europe’s Committee on Nationality, which developed the European Convention on Nationality and the draft protocol on the avoidance of statelessness in relation to state succession. Non‑governmental organizations also work closely with UNHCR – in the field, as advocates for UNHCR’s programmes, and in helping to develop UNHCR’s activities. 46