Growth in the number of accessions to the 1954 and 1961 Conventions 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 States Parties to the 1954 Convention 14 20 10 20 06 20 02 20 98 94 19 19 90 86 19 19 82 19 78 19 74 19 70 19 66 19 62 19 58 19 19 54 0 States Parties to the 1961 Convention How do parliamentarians ensure that the statelessness conventions are implemented effectively? In most States, national legislation must be adopted or amended to allow the provisions of the two statelessness conventions to be implemented effectively. UNHCR can offer its expert advice to States to help ensure that each State’s particular legal tradition and resources will accommodate its international obligations. What practical steps can parliamentarians take to encourage their governments to accede to the Conventions? 54 • Determine whether your State is party to either or both of the statelessness conventions. • If your State has not yet acceded to these instruments, consider posing a written or oral question to the government or adopting a private members’ bill. • If a request for ratification or accession has been introduced before parliament, within a reasonable amount of time after reviewing the necessary information, vote in favour of accession. • If the government fails to bring the matter before parliament within a reasonable amount of time, use parliamentary procedure to ask the government to explain why and to encourage the government to begin the process of ratification/ accession without delay.