38.2 (7) TEMPROSA.DOCX38.2 (7) TEMPROSA.DOCX (DO NOT DELETE) 2020] STATELESSNESS AS RHETORIC 1/16/2021 12:59 PM 255 reservations to the definition, ensuring it has a normative character. 81 While the 1954 Statelessness Convention has one of the poorest ratification and accession records among all human rights treaties, 82 it is mostly subscribed to by Western liberal democracies. 83 Consequently, a worldwide campaign has encouraged new ratifications from countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. 84 Since 2010, some twenty-seven States either ratified or acceded to the treaty, representing almost thirty percent of State parties to the treaty. 85 It seems, on this metric, that States have largely accepted or are increasingly accepting the binding force of the definition. In addition, supranational entities like the Council of Europe now adopt the definition. 86 The UN hailed the definition as the treaty's "most significant contribution to international law." 87 The UN Secretary-General has released a guidance note on the UN and statelessness, explicitly declaring that the definition is universally accepted and has established an internationally-recognized status. 88 UN specialized agencies, such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), routinely turn to the treaty definition when talking about statelessness. 89 The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a global organization of national parliaments, 81. 1954 Statelessness Convention, supra note 16, art. 38(1). 82. As of this writing, the 1954 Statelessness Convention has 97 States parties. See United Nations Treaty Collection, Chapter V Refugees and Stateless Persons, https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetailsII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V3&chapter=5&Temp=mtdsg2&clang=_en (last visited Aug. 24, 2020). 83. SRINI SITARAMAN, STATE PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL TREATY REGIMES 124 (2009). 84. Nour Dados & Raewyn Connel, The Global South, 11 KEY CONCEPTS IN SOC. RSCH. (2012), https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1536504212436479. 85. United Nations Treaty Collection, Chapter V Refugees and Stateless Persons, supra note 82. 86. Council of Europe Convention on Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession, Jan. 5, 2009, CETS No. 200, Article 1(c) (incorporating a definition of statelessness that mirrors Article 1(1) of the 1954 Statelessness Convention). 87. UNHCR, Introductory Note to the Text of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, Sept. 28, 1954, 360 U.N.T.S. 3, https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/wp-content/uploads/1954-Convention-relating-to-the-Status-of-Stateless-Persons_ENG.pdf (last visited Apr. 15, 2014). 88. UNITED NATIONS, The United Nations and Statelessness: Guidance Note of the SecretaryGeneral 4 (2011), https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/FINAL%20Guidance%20Note%20of%20the%20SecretaryGeneral%20on%20the%20United%20Nations%20and%20Statelessness.pdf (last visited Apr. 15, 2019) [hereinafter "UNITED NATIONS, Guidance Note"] (listing the identification and protection of stateless persons and the prevention and reduction of statelessness as action points). 89. See UNHCR, Conclusion on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons No. 106 (LVII) (2006), https://www.unhcr.org/excom/exconc/453497302/conclusion-identification-prevention-reduction-statelessness-protection.html (last visited Apr. 15, 2019); see also UNHCR, UNHCR Action to Address Statelessness: A Strategy Note (2010), https://www.unhcr.org/protection/statelessness/4b960ae99/unhcr-action-address-statelessness-strategy-note.html (last visited Apr. 15, 2019).