ACTION 9: Accede to the UN Statelessness Conventions While it will take the whole of society to end statelessness once and for all, the primary responsibility for solutions and action rests with States. The world’s nations are ultimately accountable for making, reforming and implementing the laws and policies that will prevent and resolve statelessness, as well as protect stateless populations. One of the primary ways that States can commit to the cause is by acceding to the two UN Statelessness Conventions. Together, they form an international legal framework on statelessness that is complemented by a range of human rights treaties and provisions. The 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons is designed to ensure that stateless people enjoy a basic set of human rights, including education, employment and housing, the right to identity and travel documents and administrative assistance. It also establishes the international legal definition of a stateless person as someone “not recognized by any State under the operation of its law.” The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness establishes a framework to ensure the right of every person to a nationality. It requires that States put in place certain safeguards to prevent statelessness at birth and over the course of a person’s lifetime. It prohibits deprivation of nationality on discriminatory grounds. In essence, the 10 actions under the #IBelong Campaign and its Global Action Plan to End Statelessness stem from these two conventions. Therefore, getting more States to accede to the conventions has been a priority. Before and during the #Belong campaign, UNHCR stepped up calls for States to accede to the two statelessness conventions. Through concerted advocacy efforts, dialogues and engagement at events including the 2019 HighLevel Segment and two Global Refugee Forums, there has been considerable progress. Since 2014, there have been: • • 14 State accessions to the 1954 Convention, bringing the total parties to 98 countries – representing 51 percent of United Nations Member States 18 State accessions to the 1961 Convention, increasing the number of parties to 80 countries Counting the 2011 Ministerial Intergovernmental Event on Refugees and Statelessness – held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention – there have been a total of 79 new accessions. Through continued advocacy, UNHCR and its partners will continue to emphasize the importance of joining these two conventions. #IBELONG 39