In line with Action 8, Issue nationality documentation to those with entitlement to it, in February, the Government of Namibia announced plans to grant nationality and issue nationality documentation to stateless persons, persons with undetermined nationality and migrants who arrived in Namibia prior to independence. households and dwellings in the republic of North Macedonia 2021” concerning the census exercise that will be rolled out from 1 to 21 April this year. The census will include asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons and presents an opportunity to identify the number of stateless persons on the territory and collect information on their profile. This should subsequently assist policymakers to develop prevention measures. In line with Action 9, Accede to the UN Statelessness Conventions, on 26 January, Iceland acceded to both the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Prior to accession, Iceland undertook several steps to align its national legislative framework with both conventions: in 2016 the Act on Foreigners was adopted, which incorporates provisions pertaining to the protection of stateless persons, and in 2018 the Icelandic Nationality Act was amended to include safeguards for children born stateless in the country. In 2020, the Lithuanian Migration Department carried out a campaign to analyse the situation of stateless persons in the country in line with its pledge at the 2019 HLS. As a result, 139 persons received individual counselling on the citizenship procedure, 57 of them submitted citizenship applications, and 15 became citizens of Lithuania. The campaign has helped to identify several issues that have discouraged stateless persons from applying for Lithuanian citizenship, including the requirement to pass Lithuanian language and constitution exams, lack of financial resources, and age considerations affecting the elderly. In line with Action 10, Improve quantitative and qualitative data on stateless populations, on 21 January, the Parliament of North Macedonia adopted the “Law on census of population, Media Impact of the Campaign From December 2020 to January 2021, UNHCR conducted an awareness raising campaign in Central Asia to highlight problems faced by stateless women. A series of human-interest stories were published and disseminated on social media platforms in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The campaign reached 340,000 people online and received over 23,000 views. On 24 December, UNHCR issued a press release commending the efforts of the Supreme Court of the Philippines in establishing a new committee to accelerate the naturalization of refugees and stateless people. On 20 January, UNHCR published, ”A whole new world has opened in front of me”, profiling a former stateless taekwondo-trainer in Uzbekistan who acquired Uzbek nationality following the entry into force of a new citizenship law that benefited around 50,000 stateless persons. On 20 February, the Public Broadcaster in Georgia dedicated a talk show to the issue of statelessness. Representatives of UNHCR, the Public Services Development Agency, and the Office of the Public Defender discussed the importance of identifying and documenting stateless persons as well as the need for facilitated naturalization procedures. On 29 January, UNHCR published a press release welcoming Iceland’s accessions to the UN Statelessness Conventions. On 25 February, UNHCR published a story on statelessness in Uzbekistan entitled “Stateless for 20 years, a filmmaker becomes an Uzbek citizen at last”. 7

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