Statelessness as a Product of Slippery Statecraft Having considered some of the slippery statecraft involved in governing international migration and identity management, coupled with persistent forms of discrimination, let us now consider who is actually working on statelessness and how they frame the issue. GLOBAL GOVERNANCE ACTORS CONCERNED WITH STATELESSNESS Until recently, statelessness as a stand-alone issue had received little attention from human rights, humanitarian, academic, or policy making circles. 67 This has shifted in the years since 2013 as a variety of intergovernmental and non-state actors have generated an upsurge in global attention to the right to a nationality within the context of displacement and international migration, 68 which together are commonly referred to as mixed migration movements or flows. In 2014, UNHCR launched a 10-year campaign to eradicate statelessness and held the first Global Forum on Statelessness. 69 The ISI was founded that year, marking the emergence of a global epistemic community dedicated to advancing research, training and advocacy on the issue. Both have been galvanising energy and bringing together state and non-state actors around the world, leading to the formation of regional advocacy networks, such as the European Network on Statelessness (‘ENS’) and the Americas Network on Statelessness. UNHCR and ISI were also among the founding members of the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, which is coordinated by the Women’s Refugee Commission. 70 This section considers these global governance actors in turn, taking note of their working strategies and understanding of the problem of statelessness. While the upsurge in efforts to address statelessness is promising, the problem-solving approach to smoothing out the relationship between individuals and sovereign states does little to address the problematic use of exclusionary citizenship to manage mobility. UNHCR’S TECHNICAL APPROACH TO ENDING STATELESSNESS UNHCR’s work on statelessness began with refugees in the post-WWII era. Following the adoption of the 1954 and 1961 Conventions, it was to assist in the examination and presentation of claims on behalf of stateless refugees. 71 However, it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the agency was granted an international mandate to prevent and reduce statelessness. 72 In 2006 the mandate expanded to include the identification and protection of stateless persons, covering all situations of 67 68 69 70 71 72 Bloom, Tonkiss and Cole (n 25) 4–5. Some regional intergovernmental processes and organisations, such as the Organization of American States (‘OAS’) and the European Union (‘EU’) have begun to address statelessness as well. See Organization of American States, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons in the Americas, AG/RES.2826 (XLIV-O/14) (4 June 2014); Brazil Declaration and Plan of Action, signed 3 December 2014. See also Council of the European Union, Conclusions of the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States on Statelessness (Conclusions, 4 December 2015). United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014–2024 (Report, November 2014) (‘Global Action Plan’). Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, ‘About Us’ <https://equalnationalityrights.org/about-us> (‘GCENR About Us’). United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR Action to Address Statelessness (Strategy Note, March 2010) 4. See, eg. GA Res 49/169, UN Doc A/RES/49/169 (23 December 1994); GA Res 50/152, UN Doc A/RES/50/152 (9 February 1996). 145