Equal Nationality Rights, of which UNHCR is a Founding Steering Committee member, organized a workshop on the need to eliminate gender discrimination from nationality legislation. The workshop brought together over 60 participants from government, civil society, and academia. The outcomes were discussed at a press conference that highlighted the event to a Togolese audience. to formalize the coalition in order to strengthen the organization of the different communities that may be affected by statelessness. Recommendations adopted by the participants at the roundtable are aligned with UNHCR’s planned solutions-focused project in the area. This project aims to build capacity of various actors and to see the development of a mapping/legal identity project targeting the Bajau Laut. On 15-16 February, in Brussels, UNHCR organized a training on statelessness in Europe with the support of the European Network on Statelessness. Some 40 participants working in 25 different countries, including government representatives, NGO staff, OSCE officials, and representatives from ENS and UNHCR, had the opportunity to exchange information and best practices with respect to the prevention of statelessness in the current context in Europe. The meeting also covered developments and best practices with respect to the identification and protection of stateless persons in the region. On 2 March, in Austria, UNHCR and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) launched a new “Handbook on Statelessness in the OSCE Area: International Standards and Good Practices” at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna. The Handbook is part of ongoing collaboration among UNHCR, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) on statelessness issues. It is intended to be a practical tool for the 57 OSCE participating States, outlining concrete steps that can be undertaken to address statelessness. The launch will be followed by joint ODIHR/HCNM-UNHCR small-scale projects in selected countries or regions in 2017 under the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship, and hopefully beyond. On 17 February, in Kazakhstan, over 350 students from five different Universities gathered in Turan University to listen to a UNHCR presentation on the prevention and reduction of statelessness globally and in Central Asia and to pose questions. The participants were particularly interested in the rights of stateless persons in Kazakhstan, problems stateless persons face around the world, and how stateless persons may be helped. In Kyrgyzstan, a Working Group on citizenship issues comprising the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Interior, the State Registry Service, UNHCR and NGO experts is reviewing the existing nationality law and issues related to its implementation in practice. A number of recommendations have been drafted to improve the citizenship legislation and enforce safeguards to prevent statelessness. These have now been made available to the public for consultation. In addition, the Working Group contributed to a decision by the Kyrgyz government to undertake a mission to Georgia, led by the Minister of Justice, in order to better understand practices in that country with respect to the prevention and reduction of statelessness. On 25 February, in Malaysia, UNHCR and DHRRA Malaysia facilitated a paralegal roundtable on case management systems for a newly formed coalition of Eastern Sabah-based NGOs. The roundtable – the first in a series of capacity building initiatives planned in 2017 for NGOs based in Sabah - was attended by 50 participants, including representatives from organisations and community leaders who work with the Bajau Laut, former Filipino refugees and 2nd-3rd generation migrant workers. The roundtable concluded with a decision 2