related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 40th UPR Sessions.2 5. The European Network on Statelessness (ENS) 3 is a civil society alliance of NGOs, lawyers, academics, and other independent experts committed to addressing statelessness in Europe. Based in London, it currently has over 170 members in 41 European countries. ENS organises its work around three pillars – law and policy development, awareness-raising, and capacity-building. ENS provides expert advice and support to a range of stakeholders, including governments. This submission partially draws on information and analysis from ENS’s Statelessness Index, which covers Switzerland.4 Previous UPR of Switzerland under the First, Second, and Third Cycles 6. Switzerland was previously reviewed during the first, second, and third sessions of the UPR, in 2008, 2012, and 2017 respectively. During the first cycle, Switzerland received one recommendation by Canada to “maintain judiciary recourse on the granting of citizenship process” and further that “the revocation of the resident permit of married women who are victims of domestic violence be subject to a review after a full evaluation of impact on those women and their children,”5 which Switzerland accepted. During the second cycle, Switzerland received one recommendation by Slovakia to ratify the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which it noted.6 7. During the third cycle, Switzerland received three recommendations. Hungary recommended that Switzerland “formalize the statelessness determination procedure and ensure the procedure is fair, effective and accessible to all persons in Switzerland regardless of their legal status; ensure that the definition of ‘statelessness person’ is fully consistent with the definition provided in the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons”, 7 which it accepted. Côte d’Ivoire recommended that Switzerland ratify the 1961 Convention the Reduction of Statelessness, 8 which it noted. Panama similarly recommended that Switzerland ratify the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and “establish safeguards to guarantee birth registration to all children born in the country who would otherwise be stateless”,9 which Switzerland also noted. Switzerland’s International Obligations 8. Switzerland has acceded to the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons in 1972, but is not a signatory to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Switzerland has international obligations to protect the right to a nationality and protect 2 For more information, see: https://www.institutesi.org/. For more information, see: https://www.statelessness.eu. 4 ENS, Statelessness Index: Switzerland, available at: https://index.statelessness.eu/country/switzerland. 5 UN Human Rights Council, ‘Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Switzerland’, A/HRC/8/41, (28 May 2008), para. 16, para. 57.8 and para. 57.9. 6 UN Human Rights Council, ‘Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Switzerland’, A/HRC/22/11, (7 December 2012), para. 123.5. 7 UN Human Rights Council, ‘Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Switzerland’, A/HRC/37/12, (29 December 2017), para. 146.121. 8 Ibid. para. 148.13. 9 Ibid. para. 148.14. 3 2